Senator Anakin, Jedi Padmé
by Writer Wannabe
Summary: Anakin is a 24 year old galactic senator from Naboo. Padmé is a 19 year old former-slave Jedi Padawan from Tatooine. They meet again after ten years. Please review!
1. Beggining of a story that's totally back...

What if Padmé was the 9 year old Nubian hero and Anakin was the 14 year old king of Naboo? What will happen when they meet again as Jedi Padmé and Senator Skywalker? 

She was very nervous. She was going to meet him again after all those years. The last time she had seen him, he was the handsome teenager king of the most beautiful planet she had ever seen: Naboo. He was a king by then, now he was a senator. And she wasn't that dirty slave girl anymore, now she was a Jedi Padawan, sent to protect him. It was weird, though. If he was 24, how come he couldn't take care of himself? She asked Obi-Wan, her master, thousands of times the same question and he always answered the same thing:

"How in Sith's hell do you expect me to know, Padmé?".

This always brought a smile to her face. Now she was proud of being a Jedi and not a slave for some strange alien life form named Watto. She was the Chosen One, the one person that could bring balance to the Force, and this made her proud.

The elevator was taking far too long to get to the twentieth floor, to Padmé's taste. All she wanted, was to see her Anakin again. She'd had a crush on him since the day they met, but he just looked at her as a little sister by that time. Now she was 19, almost twenty, and she was a beautiful woman, or so Obi-Wan said. He always complemented her to encourage her to continue her training, telling her that everyone was counting on her. You see, vanity was her weak spot, and everyone, even her, knew it. If you wanted to reach something with her, you had to complement her.

"Alright, we are here...", Obi-Wan said cheerfuly after the elevator's bell was heard. Padmé swallowed hard a couple of times and fixed her Jedi robes before stepping out of the elevator. They entered a room filed with some senators, captains and a man that was facing the wall. That HAD to be him. 

Obi-Wan cleared his throat and the young man facing the wall turned around. He smiled when he saw the Jedi master. Padmé frozed. That smile was just breathtaking. It made his whole face shine like the twin suns from her home planet, Tatooine. The young man approached to Obi-Wan and reached for his hand for a friendly hand shake.

"It's a pleasure to see you again, mylord", Obi-Wan bowed respectfuly. Anakin smiled.

"It's been far too long, Obi-Wan. And please, call me Anakin", he said smiling. Obi-Wan smiled back and nodded. Anakin turned his head to see who was standing next to his old friend and saw a beautiful young woman trying to hold back a smile. Finaly, the smile gave in. Anakin recognized her.

"Oh, don't tell me that this is little Paddy...", he said in disbelief. "My goodness, you've grown!", he remarked in disbelief. Padmé stepped forward and smiled.

"Well, yes I have...", she added proudly. 

"Indeed...", he said nodding his head and smiling. "Well, let's sit down and talk, shall we?", he said waving his hand pointing to the siting area. Anakin sat down on a couch by himself and Padmé sat by her master's side. The conversation was going fine, until everyone noticed something.

The fact that Anakin couldn't take his eyes away from her, flattered her. But the rest of the people present in the room were getting quite uncomfortable. Padmé was smiling to herself in the inside, thinking that the man she had always loved was blinded with her beauty.

"Well, I think that I can take care of myself, Obi-Wan", he said forcing himself not to look at Padmé.

"But mylord, we were sent here because you needed protection. I knew that this might happen, but please, let us perform our duties as Jedi", Obi-Wan said almost pleading. Anakin sighed and then smiled. How she loved that smile...

"Alright, you can 'take care of me'. But I'll have to ask you to be..."

"Oh, you won't even notice us, I assure you", Padmé interrupted. Anakin frowned.

"How did you know what I was going to say?", he asked smiling.

"Padmé: how many times have I told you NOT to read people's minds?", Obi-Wan said in a serious tone. Padmé blushed, and when Anakin noticed this he smiled.

***

"I do not like this idea of hiding...", Anakin said as he walked towards his room in the senators building.

"Well, it seems that you have no other choice, Anakin...", Padmé said. Anakin started packing his things. He just threw the clothes to the bag on his bed and kept muttering things through his clenched teeth. Anakin raised his head to look at Padmé and sighed.

"Well, I guess you're right, Paddy...", he said.

"Please don't call me Paddy, I'm not 9 anymore, you know?", she said standing up. Anakin looked at her from head to toe. She was extremely beautiful, like no other woman he had ever met or seen in his life.

"Y...yes. You have certainly grown up, Padmé. You are... taller", he said.

"But you are still taller than me...", she pointed. Anakin smiled. "But you've grown too. The last time we saw each other you were aproximately of my heigth. Now you are taller than my master", she said smiling. "And your face changed a little, too...", she said bringing a hand to his cheek. Anakin froze. "Now you seem to have a decent beard, though you are shaved. When you were 14 you just had four blond hairs on your chin", she said smiling while she caressed his chin. They looked into each other's eyes for a while until Anakin cleared his throat, turning his face away from her touch.

"So, how's being a Jedi working for you?", he asked changing the subject.

"Oh, it's great. I'm really advanced in my training, almost in the same level as Obi-Wan. We get along preetty well. He's a great friend...", she paused and looked down.

"But?", Anakin asked. Padmé smiled.

"Well, it's kind of hard having a male master when you are a woman. Specially at my age... Sometimes I wished I had a female master, you know? That way we could have girl talks, and stuff", she said smiling.

"You know... in Naboo you could talk to Sabé, she's a servant in my lake homestead. You two could get to be good friends", he suggested. There was a silence, but it was broke by Padmé.

"What about us? Are we going to be friends?", she asked. Anakin cleared his throat.

"Y...yes, of course. But I don't think that you can have a girl talk with me, don't you think?", he asked smiling. Padmé laughed. "Hey, do you have any other clothes besides your Jedi robes?", he asked.

"Well, I have one dress... but it's for travelling, why?", she asked curious.

"If we are going to be hiding and trying to bring no attention, we'll have to get you some clothes. I'll tell you what: when we arrive to the lake house, you and Sabé will go shopping, what do you say?". Padmé smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"That would be great!", she said excited. Suddenly, she remembered something. "But what will Obi-Wan say? Jedi can't have possesions... And he will kill me if he sees me wearing new dresses..."

"Well, we'll have to keep it a secret. And all your new dresses will be in the lake so that you can wear them whenever you go and visit me", he said. Padmé smiled and kissed his cheek. Anakin froze once again.

"Thank you, Ani. You are a great friend".

"Oh... you are welcome, Padmé", he managed to say. Then he smiled at the nickname she had called him. nobody called him Ani anymore, only his mother, back in Naboo. That nickname made him feel special and loved, specialy coming from Padmé. "I have to finish packing all my clothes. They are so unnecessary... I'm looking forward to arrive to Naboo and wear my cassual clothes and not this rigid senator outfits...", he complained. Padmé smiled.

"You are such a crybaby...", she said between laughs.   

"Oh, shut up... shorty"


	2. Attraction

The trip to Naboo was very nice yet confusing to Anakin. He was amazed by how much Padmé had changed in ten years. She remembered her as a playful little girl. Now she was a grown, beautiful woman that took his breath away. But he kept holding this strange feelings back. It just couldn't happen, she was studying to become a Jedi, he was a Senator. It would never work between the two of them.

Padmé couldn't believe that she was having a conversation with the man she loved. They were having lunch on top of a wooden box and they were sitting on smaller boxes. Padmé thought that this would be very uncomfortable for Anakin, who was used to eat in more 'graceful' sourroundings, but he didn't seem to mind at all. He was too concentrated on his food, or so she thought...

"It must be hard to be a Jedi at your age, specially if you are a girl... woman, I mean...", he corrected himself. Padmé raised a brow.

"What do you mean by that? You think that because I'm a woman I can't take things as easy as a man could?", she asked. Anakin shook his head, almost scared.

"No, no, no... I meant that 19 is a very hard age, believe me, I've been there. It doesn't make a difference if you are a guy...", he explained. 

"Well, it makes a difference: women are more matture than men, they are never in the same level...", she said. Anakin raised a brow and smiled.

"Says who? It's not always that way, you know?", Anakin said trying to deffend his genre. Padmé smiled and rested her chin on her hands.

"Oh, really? It seems that you don't hang out with people of your age very often, Ani". All of the sudden, Anakin was very uncomfortable. Padmé was piercing his eyes with the look she was giving him. He cleared his throat and pointed to her elbows that were leaned on the table.

"And it seems that Obi-Wan hasn't tought you table manners. Elbows off the table, Paddy...", he said. Padmé rested her hands on the table and blushed. "What's the matter?", Anakin asked curious.

"Please don't call me Paddy", she said almost upset. Anakin nodded and grabbed her hand.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to call you Paddy, it's just that I was used to call you that, it reminds me of when you were little". Padmé looked at her hand, trapped under Anakin's and looked deeply into his eyes.

"But I'm not little Paddy anymore, am I Ani?". Anakin raised a brow.

"And I'm not Ani, anymore either". Padmé smiled and brought her hand to her lap. 

"No, you are definitley not". They smiled to each other and continued eating their food.

They arived to Naboo and rushed to the queen's palace. Padmé noticed that the queen wasn't only focused in Anakin's words, but also on his looks. Padmé raised a brow when the queen looked at her and she inmediately cleared her throat to talk.

"Well senator Skywalker, I guess that things are settled. You may take a brake on your duties as a senator for a couple of weeks. You may leave", she said dismissing him with a wave of her hand. Anakin bowed to the queen and kissed her hand. Though she was wearing a lot of makeup, Padmé noticed the queen's cheeks blushing when Anakin's lips touched her hand.

When they were out of the queen's sight, Anakin sighed and looked at Padmé.

"Now we can go home", he said in a relieved tone. Padmé smiled.

"Yes, now I can go shopping!", she said excited. Anakin laughed.

***

Anakin was on the balcony leaning on the rail, admiring the landscape before his eyes. How he had missed his home... Courasant was like a nightmare next to Naboo and it's endless meadows, lakes, waterfalls and rivers. His thoughts were interrupted by someone calling his name. 

He turned around and his eyes almost jumped away from his eyeballs with what he saw. Padmé was standing in front of him wearing a beautiful long yellow, pink and violet dress.

"So? What do you think?", she said turning around. The dress floated with each turn she made, her loose hair played with the warm breeze, and to Anakin's surprise, the dress had no back. It was just tied around her neck. Anakin blinked a couple of times and smiled.

"You look... very comfortable", he said. Padmé smiled.

"Yes, this much more comfortable than the Jedi robes, and less itchy. Sometimes I think I'm alergic to wool...", she said smiling. Anakin just nodded. "Hey, you look great too. Now that you are not wearing your rigid senator outfits...", she said teasing him. But on the inside, she was melting. Anakin was wearing blue pants, a white t-shirt and a brown vest. His hair was longer than she remembered. When he was 14, his hair had the same length as a Jedi Padawan. Now, it was longer, and sometimes it getting on his eyes. 

"Oh, well... I'm certainley more comfortable...", he said waving his arms in the air. Padmé moved closer to him, only causing Anakin's sweating to increase.

"Wow, this is beautiful. I've never seen a place as breathtaking as this. The last time I came to Naboo, I only saw the country side, but this...", she said shaking her head. Anakin placed a hand on her shoulder.

"If it weren't for you, none of this would be here. You saved my planet, Padmé. Thank you", he said. Padmé nodded.

"You are welcome", she said looking deeply into his eyes. There was an awkward silence. They just kept looking at each other and breathing. Padmé grabbed the hand that Anakin had on her shoulder and entwined her fingers with his. 

Suddenly, everything felt right again for Anakin. Slowly, he leaned in to kiss her. Padmé placed her free hand behind his head and caressed his neck. The kiss was getting deeper, and Anakin pulled back, very embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that", he said turning his head to the lake. Padmé sighed and released his hand.

"I haven't finished un-packing yet. I'll be inside in my room if you need me", she said turning around and walking inside.

"Ok", he nodded a bit too late, because Padmé was already inside the house. Anakin brought his hands to his face and sighed. "Oh, gods... what have I done?", he regreted.

At the same time, Padmé was free falling to her bed, smiling.

"Oh, Force...", she said with dreamy eyes.


	3. Friends?

The meadow was peaceful except for Anakin and Padmé's quarreling. They were arguing about if it was right or wrong to lie for a noble purpose.

"What's the point? If it's a noble cause, it shouldn't be necessary to lie", Anakin said.

"Yes, but what if people don't realize that at first? Sometimes, lying is necessary to achieve your goals", she said.

"No, I don't think that lying could bring any good to anyone's life", he said shaking his head. Suddenly, the grass turned out to be very appealing for Anakin, so he just stared at it and watched how the breeze waved it.

"I think that I'm right", Padmé said. Anakin smiled and then looked at her.

"I thought that Jedi weren't aloud to lie, Padmé", Anakin pointed. Padmé looked at him and played with a lock of her hair.

"Well, I know. But sometimes we have to lie, in a way. When we mind trick people, we are lying to them, making them believe as if what we order them to do was their decision. I'm not crazy about the idea of lying to people, but sometimes it needs to be done", she explained. Anakin smiled and played with the string hanging form the neck of his shirt.

"I guess you do have a point... but still", he said looking at her.

"Alright, it's ok if we disagree in one issue, we are different people".

"VERY different", he pointed. Padmé agreed and looked at her new dress.

"Hey, I forgot to thank you for this dress. It's beautiful!", she said fixing the sleeves. She looked great in that yellow dress (the same as in the picnic scene, AOTC), and that strange hair style really suited her.

"I'm glad you liked it", Anakin said looking anywhere BUT her. She was shining in beauty and harmony, it was making him go insane. Padmé noticed his tenssion and decided to lighten up the mood a little bit.

"So, do you want to see one of my Jedi tricks?".

"You are not going to use one of your mind games with me...", he asked frowning. Padmé smiled.

"No, they only work on the weak minded".

"Then how come could you read my mind in Courasant?", he asked. Padmé felt a little embarrassed when she remembered the episode, but recovered.

"Well, if your 'shields' are down, it's easy to read minds. Back in Courasant, you were very tense about something and you weren't thinking clearly, so it was easy for me to read your thoughts. But you are very strong minded. You had already prooved it to me...", she said lowering her head.

"What do you mean by that?", he asked curious. Padmé raised her head and looked at him.

"Why did you say that you shouldn't have kiss me?", she asked non stopping at any word. Anakin got nervous and lowered his head.

"Because it was a mistake... Friends don't kiss, and I'd preffer if we stayed as friends, Padmé". Padmé sighed and reached for his hand. 

"Alright, we'll stay as friends". They shared a friendly handshake and smiled. After their smiles faded, there was an awkward silence. Maybe it was because they were still holding hands, or because they kept looking into each other's eyes. Anakin decided that it was enough of this behavior, so he stood up in a jump and walked towards the edge of the cliff.

"I love this view", he said when Padmé joined him. "I used to come here every day when I was little. My sister Sola and I would ran all over the meadow escaping from our nanny. We had a blast...", he said in a melancholic tone. Padmé grabbed his hand and entwined their fingers. She leaned her head on his arm and sighed. At this point, Anakin was sweating.

"When I was little the only thing I had to ran away from, was Watto". Suddenly, her eyes turned to a darker brown than usual, it was as if she was remembering something she hated. Anakin was a little concerned about her.

"Padmé, what's the matter?", he asked almost afraid. Padmé looked at him, piercing his eyes.

"I hate Watto, he's holding my mother as a slave, and there's nothing I can do to stop him. Obi-Wan says that I'll be able to go there once I finish my training, but every time he says that, I feel that knighthood is a long way to go yet. It's like...", she paused when she saw Anakin looking at her. There was something about her that scared him, and she could feel it. She decided to stop talking about her feelings.

"Like what, Padmé?", he asked.

"No, nothing. Forget about it... let's make the most of this beautiful day and have fun", she said forcing a smile that Anakin inocently bought. He nodded and ran away from her, laughing. Padmé ran after him, this time with a real smile.

Somehow, they ended rolling on the grass, laughing like they hadn't laugh for a long time. When they stopped rolling, Padmé was on top of Anakin. Both of them were breathing hard after all the laughing, but now their breathing was like that because they were nervous. Padmé was piercing Anakin's eyes, and he was trying to fight her spell, having a hard time on it.

"Padmé...", he whispered almost pleading, but Padmé was already inches away from his face. They kissed once again, this time with more passion than the first time. Though he was kissing her back, Anakin tried to stop the kiss, but he was too attracted to her. He rolled so that he was on top of her, and slowly he sat up, leaving her lying on the grass by herself. Padmé leaned on her elbows and gave him a puzzled look, but he shook his head.

"No, Padmé... we can't", he said standing up and walking towards the picnic area. Padmé stood up and walked after him.

"Why not?", she asked. Anakin turned around and grabbed her shoulders.

"Because we CAN'T!", he said upset. Padmé nodded and looked at Anakin's hands. He realized that he was grabbing her tightly, so he released her. "We better go back..."


	4. Things clear?

They were having dinner quietly. The tenssion between them grew every second, and Padmé decided that it was enough of it. She reached the Force and slowly moved Anakin's plate away from him. He was looking at the lake, so he didn't notice. He had no intention of looking at Padmé, so he decided to stick his fork on the food without looking, only that he sticked the fork in the table. He turned his head and in his hand he saw a bend fork. 

Anakin looked at Padmé, who was trying to hold back her laughter. Anakin smiled, and to his smile followed roars of laughter. Padmé joined in and added her own giggles to the fun.

"I knew that I would surprise you with that...", she managed to say.

"Believe me, you did", he pointed. They kept laughing until they stopped to catch their breaths. Anakin looked at the fork and sighed. "But look at the fork, it's ruined", he complained.

"Men... do you guys are alway so complicated?", she asked while she brought the fork to herself with the Force. She concentrated and fixed the fork. It seemed as if she was using her eyes to straighten up the fork, but she was using the Force. When the fork was fixed, she send it back to Anakin. He couldn't believe what he'd just seen.

"Wow, that was amazing!", he said impressed. Padmé smiled and shook her head.

"Obi-Wan would kill me if he knows about this...", she said starting to laugh again.

*

It was dark, the sky was so black that you couldn't be able to see anything. The only thing that brightened Anakin's sitting are in his room, was the fireplace. Padmé and Anakin were sitting on the couch next to each other. The fire reflected on Anakin's leather jacket, giving his face a golden tone and a glow to his eyes. Padmé was wearing a sleeveless tan dress with a V neck. The flames in the fireplace made the shadows on her fave dance in waves. Her eyes were reflecting the yellow light and her hair was falling freely over her shoulders. She spoke up.

"Anakin, when I met you all those years ago, I realized that you were the love of my life. I'm a Jedi, and love is forbidden to me, but I can't hold back this feelings I have towards you. I wish I could, but I can't", she said breathing hard. Anakin swallowed hard.

"Padmé, I'm really flattered with your words, they really mean a lot to me", he said. Padmé smiled, but Anakin continued. "But we can't be together, you are a Jedi and I'm a senator, 'we' can never happen", he said shaking his head. Padmé sighed and gave him a hard look.

"But you want it to happen, I know. It's written in your eyes, I can tell every time you look at me". When she said this, Anakin looked down, avoiding her intense stare. "See? And you even try to hide it. I know that you like me, Anakin. Why do you keep denying it?". Anakin sighed and looked at her. She was right.

"When you walked inside my apartment in Courasant, I couldn't take my eyes away from you, you were so different than the way I remembered. When we got to talk, I realized how grown up you are now. You have grown to be an amazing woman". He paused to look at her and lifted his hand to caress her face. "You are so incredible..."

They stared at each other for a while. This time, Anakin was the one to kiss her first. Padmé cupped his face and returned the kiss with equal passion. They kept kissing each other until Padmé broke the kiss. Anakin looked into her eyes, asking with his look why she had done that, and Padmé answered.

"Tell me what do you want from me, Anakin. I reffuse to be your consolation prize. If you are not taking me seriously stop playing with me, because it hurts. And I don't want to be hurt by you anymore, I would hate to think of you as the only person that hurts me the most. Please Anakin...", she pleaded. Anakin kept silent, so she kissed him. "Please, Anakin. Don't hurt me", she whispered against his lips.

That was a wake up call for Anakin, because he inmediately broke the kiss. He stood up and walked towards the fireplace, not looking at Padmé. He just showed her his back, giving her the answer she needed so badly.

"Then I won't do it. I don't want to hurt you", he said in a low tone.

"Fine", she whispered.

I think you should leave", he said. Padmé nodded and left the room.


	5. Unknown Feelings

When Anakin woke up the next morning, he heard someone splashing the water. He walked to the balcony to see who it was, and to his surprise, he saw Padmé swimmimg towards the island next to the shore. Anakin leaned on the rail and watched her as she approached the island. When Padme reached the shore, she looked towards the balcony and saw Anakin. She inmediately walked away to the other side of the island. Anakin lowered his head and returned to his room.

Padmé was sitting on a rock next to the water with her chin leaned on her knees. She had her arms wrapped around her legs, as if she was afraid that they would run away without her permission. She was thinking about the dream she had last night about her mother. It wasn't really a dream, it was more like a nightmare. Her mother was in danger, and she couldn't do anything to save her.

"Are you alright?"

Padmé turned around and saw Anakin, standing soaking wet next to her. She turned her head back to where it was and sighed.

"Come on, Padmé. You can tell me", he said placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, but as soon as Padmé felt Anakin's hand touching her skin, she moved to avoid the contact. Anakin realized that she was upset, so he sat next to her, but at a propper distance.

"I had a dream", she said. All of the sudden, Anakin felt uncomfortable.

"About us?", he asked. Padmé looked at him and raised a brow.

"NO! About my mother. Force, Anakin, does everything has to be about you?", she asked annoyed. Anakin blushed.

"I'm sorry..."

"Don't be", she said coldly. Padmé sighed and continued. "My mother was in danger, she was suffering and there was nothing that I could do to help her...", she said lowering her head. She was very sad, and he hated to see her like that because it hurt him too. Suddenly, Anakin had an idea that he thought would chear her up.

"Padmé... I was thinking that maybe you could go to Tatooine and visit your mother"

"I can't go, I must stay here and protect you". When she said this, a weak smile formed in the corner of her lips. Anakin smiled.

"Well, then I'll go with you", he suggested. Padmé sighed.

"Thank you, Anakin. I really appreciate your help, but I must do as Obi-Wan says and not return to Tatooine until I have the council's permission", she said. Anakin nodded and looked at the water beneath him. The waves were softly crushing against the rocks, making them return as white foam and bubbles instead of water. It was soothing, in a way.

"Padmé, I wanted to appologize for what happened last night", he said. Padmé just nodded.

"It's alright, I'm fine with it", she said. Anakin turned to her and grabbed her hand.

"But you shouldn't be fine with it. I can't just turn to you every time I feel like it and then act as if nothing happened. You don't deserve to be treated like that". Anakin paused as he saw Padmé looking at their entwined fingers. He released her and sighed. "And I'm doing it again...", he said. "I keep acting in a certain way that is not appropiate between two friends. It doesn't matter how many times I draw the line here, I always seem to go across it one more time", he said shaking his head.

"Look: the only reason why I'm not mad at you is because you see those things and make an effort for not to keep making the same mistakes again. That's prizeless, Anakin, I really admire that in you", she said placing a hand on his shoulder. Anakin gave a little jump when he felt her hand touching his skin. "What is it?", Padmé asked confused.

"Nothing, uh... it's just that... your hands are cold", he lied. Padmé smiled and removed her hand from his shoulder. Anakin watched her hand as it returned to the rock. Without thinking it twice, he grabbed her hand and entwined his fingers with hers. Padmé looked at him in surprise.

"What are you doing?", she asked with a raised brow.

"I just wanted to hold your hand", he answered.

"Why?", Padmé asked. Anakin looked down.

"For no particular reason", he lied again. But Padmé's intense stare made him tell the truth. "I like you, a lot". Padmé frowned as Anakin waited for her answer.

"And...?". for an answer, she got a kiss. She moved her head and pushed Anakin away. "Hey, I thought that we had settled this last night. You are a senator, I'm a Jedi, remember?". Anakin looked down as he realized that his own words had betrayed him.

"Yes, but I still want to be with you", he said. Suddenly, an idea crossed his head. "We could keep it a secret!", he said excited. Padmé shook her head.

"No. If it were a secret, it wouldn't be something real. We would be lovers and only see each other from time to time, and I don't want that. I want you to take me seriously, Anakin, I don't want to be your dirty little secret", she said in a hard tone.

//Ouch, that hurt...//, Anakin thought to himself. He sighed and squeezed her hand.

"I can't offer you anything else", he said. Padmé laughed sarcasticly.

"That's a lame answer, Anakin Skywalker. You could offer me so much more, you just don't want to. You would hate to be attached to someone else, wouldn't you? You just want to have an affair with me". anakin cleared his throat.

"H...how can you say that?", he asked in an offended tone. Padmé raised a brow and looked deeply into his eyes.

"Because it's there, I can see it in your eyes. The most important thing in your life is the senate, your work", she paused and took a deep breath. "Not a Jedi Padawan that you haven't seen in ten years..."

"Padmé, I...", he started, but she interrupted him.

"You don't feel the same way for me as I feel for you, Anakin, not even the half of it. If we don't mean the same to each other, we are going to different directions. Besides, you are not ready to make a commitment, it's clear after what happened last night", she said standing up. "And you don't have a very clean reputation, I live in this galaxy too, you know?" She looked at him and walked away.

Anakin just sat there thinking about what she has just said. Once again, she was right. She was very matture and grown up, she could tell everything he thought or felt by just looking into his eyes. And that thing she said about his reputation was true, too. 

Anakin was known for having relationships with different women from all over the galaxy, and they lasted as long as a carton of milk does if you don't keep it in a refrigerator. But with Padmé, it was different. Somehow, he felt as if she could read him and really feel him. But now, she wanted nothing to do with him. at this last thought, Anakin sighed.

//I'm a lost cause...//, he thought. Anakin stood up and turned around. To his surprise, Padmé was facing him. Anakin looked deeply into her eyes and leaned in for a kiss. They were inches away from each other, when Padmé brought them together by pulling Anakin towards her. They kissed until their lips hurt.

"I can't even put my foot down on something and respet my own choices...", Padmé said smiling. Anakin laughed and hugged her.

"Well, that way it works better for me...", he added.

"And what about me?", Padmé asked curious. Anakin sighed and smiled at her.

"We will have a real relationship. I promise that you will not become my dirty little secret, as you put it a while ago...", he said teasing her. Padmé rolled her eyes and Anakin kissed her.

They spent the rest of the day in the meadow, where they'd had their picnic a couple of days ago. Anakin's feelings were growing deeper every minute that passed by. He was falling for Padmé, but he wanted to be sure of this feelings before she told her. It only took one kiss to assure him that his feelings for her were real and even stronger than he thought himself.


	6. Padmé's secret

Back in the house 

Padmé was sleeping while Anakin was awake, as he had never been. His eyes just wouldn't shut, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get his eyes off of Padmé. Her sleeping figure showed some kind of inocence but at the same time confidence that Anakin just couldn't explain. She didn't know that he was leaning on the door frame in her bedroom, so he didn't mind looking at her. There was a moonlight caressing her face, remarking her features and peaceful status.

Anakin was getting a little worried about his feelings towards her. 'This is like any other of my relationships, so why am I so worried?', he thought. 'I didn't think it through with the other women I've dated, I don't get it. She's like any other girl, but at the same time, she's...different. She's Padmé'. All this thougths were going through his head when Padmé started to move her head, then her arms and legs. Her face frowned, too. She was having a nightmare...again.

"Mom...no, mom...", she mutterd. She looked very worried, afraid. Anakin sat next to her and caressed her face.

"Shh...it's alright", he whispered. But Padmé kept moving and muttering things. Her words were getting more agressive every time.

"Leave her alone! I'll kill you... I hate you...!", she said in a hard tone. She was breathing hard, and Anakin decided it was time to wake her up, so he grabbed her shoulders and shook her.

"Padmé!", he said. Padmé's eyes wide opened and she almost yelled when she saw Anakin by her side. She frowned, really confused.

"What are you doing here?", she asked, still breathing hard.

"You were having a nightmare", he explained. "I woke you up". Padmé rolled her eyes.

"Oh, really? I didn't notice". She was being hard on him. Why? Anakin had no answer.

"Padmé, what's wrong?". The look she gave him caused him to shiver. Her eyes were dark and deep, there was so much more than confusion in those eyes. There was also anger, hate, agression. "Would you like to talk?", he asked rubbing her arms.

"No. Get out, there's no reason for me to tell you my personal thoughts", she said. Now Anakin was confused.

"I thought that after today we were going to be more intimate, that we would tell each other everything", he said.

"Everything is the same as it was before today, so don't act as if anything has changed, because it hasn't", she pointed in a hard tone.

"Yes it has, things have changed", Anakin corrected. Padmé laughed sarcastically.

"Oh, have they?", she asked in an amused tone. Anakin looked deeply into her eyes and breathed.

"I... I...", he tried to say it, but it was hard. Something inside of him didn't let him say the words she needed to hear. After a couple of minutes, Padmé lied down and turned his back on him.

"Get out". Anakin stood up and walked towards the door. He was about to walk out of the room, when Padmé called him. He turned and looked as she sat up. Her expression had changed from anger to fear. "Please, stay with me". 

Anakin nodded and comforted her. She was crying, and no mattered what he said to calm her down, she just kept sobbing.

"Do you want to go outside, get some air?", he whispered. Padmé looked at him and nodded. Anakin picked up Padmé's cloak and placed it on her shoulders before they walked outside. 

The stars where shining as if each one of them were on fire, and there was a spectacular full moon. It was breath taking, but not Anakin nor Padmé noticed them. They talked about everything, focusing on Padmé and her strange dreams. Anakin listened to everything she said, but he was eager to ask her something. He finaly got the courage he needed.

"Padmé, why do you get so angry sometimes?". When Padmé heard his question, she lowered her head. "It's like there's two of you, one is funny, brave, kind and bright, while the other is...", he tried to find the word to describe her other side, but didn't seem to find it. Padmé knew exactly what word suited her other side.

"Dark", she added. Anakin looked at her and nodded.

"Exactly. Why is that? I thought you Jedi couldn't have those feelings. Why is it so hard for you to accept things?", he asked softly. Padmé sighed and walked away from him to lean on the rail.

"I can't bear anything bad happen to my love ones. Whenever I sense something wrong, I loose control of my emotions, there's this other side that takes over me and doesn't let me think clearly. Like a while ago, you were being nice to me and I responded in a way you didn't deserve at all. That's because I'm blinded by my anger. All I want is to save my mother and have revenge over the ones that are hurting her", she finished. Anakin grew curious.

"What kind of revenge are you talking about, Padmé?", he asked. Anakin's idea of revenge was a trial and a couple of years in the galactic prision. Padmé's idea of revenge wasn't even close to that.

Padmé stood up straight and placed her hands behind her back. Her eyes were turning darker and darker, her breathing accelerated and her heart was about to pop out of her chest.

"Pain, suffering. I want the ones who are hurting me and my mother to live in agony, to make them feel afraid. I want to torture them, getting to a point where they don't know if they are dead or alive. I want them to have control over nothing". She said this in a hard tone, with a dark look in her eyes. 

By the time she was finished, Anakin was standing behind her. He was shocked with her answer... How could someone like Padmé develop such level of hatred in her heart? Padmé noticed that Anakin was amazed, even a little afraid with her words. She loosen up a little and sighed.

"I know what you are thinking", she said spying on him by the corner of her eye. "I'm one hell of a Jedi...", she said sarcastically. Anakin shook his head and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"No, don't say that. You are a great Jedi, but this feelings take over you and there's little you can do to fight them. Everybody has split personalities", he said comforting her. Padmé smiled and shook his head in disagreement. "Take me, for example: in the senate, I'm a serious man, cold and with no feelings; and when I'm by myself or with people that really know me, I'm just Anakin". Padmé smiled.

"And which one did you choose when you had all those girlfriends and affairs?", she said smiling. Anakin smiled too and sighed.

"Well, I guess that the first one. Like I said, I'm cold sometimes. That's why my relationships didn't last more than two months...", he said. Padmé laughed at him and turned to look into his eyes.

"And how are you with me?", she asked. Anakin smiled and cupped her face.

"I'm the third Anakin: the one for Padmé".

"Wow, I'm lucky. I guess...", she said raising a brow. Anakin smiled and leaned over to kiss her. When they broke appart, they held each other for what seemed an eternity.

"Thank you, Anakin"


	7. Concern

'I can't take this anymore. If the council asks for me, tell them the truth, that you had nothing to do with this. I'm sorry. Padmé".

Anakin couldn't believe the note that Padmé had left on his shelf. It was very early in the morning, the sun had only rise a couple of hours ago, yet she wasn't there. The only possible destination she could've headed to was Tatooine, to her mother. Anakin was afraid for her, what if she had those break outs again? What if anger took over her like it had before? The only thought of Padmé angry caused Anakin to shiver.

"What should I do?", he jept asking himself. After a lot of thinking, he decided to go to Tatooine and find Padmé before she hurt herself. Or anyone else...

*

Anakin's ship was reaching Tatooine. He had brought Sabé and a couple of guards with him just in case that anything went wrong. Well, Sabé was to make Padmé company and the guards to protect Anakin and fly the ship.

"Senator Skywalker, we will be entering Tatooine's atmosphere in three minutes, where do you wish to land?", the pilot asked.

Anakin hadn't gave much thought to this, but he remembered the city he had land on ten years ago when he was king of Naboo.

"In Mos Espa, that's the city, right over there", he said pointing at the map in the computer. The pilot nodded, and a couple of minutes later, they were walking outside the ship into a sand storm.

"I think we better wait until dawn, Senator. This is very dangerous!", one of the guards yelled. Anakin tried to cover his eyes with his clothes so that the sand didn't get into his eyes. As much as he wanted to find Padmé, they would have to wait until the storm was over before getting anywhere.

"Alright, let's go back inside!", Anakin yelled back. It was hard to walk and talk in the middle of such a sand storm, so the rest of the crew just followed Anakin inside the ship, though they didn't listen to what he said.

Before sunrise, Anakin was ready to leave. He couldn't take it anymore, so he decided to go and look for Padmé by himself. He left a message to the guards and took a bag with valuable jewelry with him. The last time he had been in Tatooine, people didn't accept republic credits, so it was better to be prepared.

Walking through the city brought many memories to Anakin. This city was the place where he met that 9 year old girl that saved Naboo, and that eventually would became his first love. Now that he was by himself, it wasn't hard to admit he loved Padmé. His feelings encouraged him to find her as quickly as possible. He stopped by the only open store in the city. Luckily, it had speeders. The owner of the shop, to Anakin's surprise, was human.

"Good morning sir, how can I help you?", the old man asked cheerfully.

"I need to rent a speeder".

*

Anakin had been flying the speeder for over two hours now, and still no sign of Padmé. He had no idea of where he was going or even where he was, he just needed to find her. Far in the horizon, he saw a spot. Anakin pushed the brakes and grabbed his binoculars to take a better look. 

It was Padmé, and she was driving a bike in it's full speed. She was going so fast, that she was leaving a sand trail behind her, floating in the air and staying there for a while. Anakin noticed that on the back, she had something but he couldn't tell what it was. It was like a long bag, or something. Suddenly, it hit him: it was Padmé's mother, now dead. Anakin started the speeder again and increased his speed, trying to catch Padmé. His heart was beating faster and faster, and he was breathing hard. He was so nervous and frightend. Finally, he caught her and was by her side.

"Padmé! Padmé!", he yelled to the top of his lungs. With the noises of both engines and the wind blowing on his face, it was hard to listen to what he was saying. He yelled once again, and this time Padmé turned her head. She barely looked at Anakin, her face remained still. She was about to turn in a different direction, when Anakin yelled: "Please! Last night, the talk!". 

Padmé pushed the brakes, so did Anakin. Padmé remained on the bike, not even turning to see Anakin, who was now standing by her side.

"Padmé, what happened, and why is there blood on your clothes?", he asked confused. Padmé gave him a hard look. So much hatred in those eyes...

"I had my revenge", she replied coldly. Anakin's eyes were wide open, and Padmé kept looking at him, making Anakin's courage disappear. Finally, he was able to speak.

"What did you do, Padmé?", he asked afraid of her answer.

"The Tusken tribe was eating, I killed them while I got the chance". Her voice was getting weak, just like her hands. Anakin noticed this and grabbed her shaking hand.

"Did you killed them all?", he asked. Padmé shook her head.

"I killed the men and the women. They took my mother away from me, so I took their parents away from them. That's fair..." she said. Her lips were trembling, tears were welling up in her eyes. When the first one of them showed, she let go and cried freely, nothing mattered now. Anakin hugged her and she just enjoyed being held by someone in a time like that. 

She felt so lonely, so confused and lost. Something was dragging her to a place where she could let go all of her hatred and anger, where she could have the freedom she'd always wanted so badly, where she could let that other side of her show. But... could she afford to go to that strange place?


	8. Comfort

Padmé's tears were dry by now. Her face had a salty trail that went from her eyes to her neck, but she didn't seem to care about it. She was focused on the fire before her where her mother, once flesh and bones, was turning into ashes. Shmi had once told Padmé that if she died, she wanted her ashes to be thrown to the dessert wind, that way her spirit would be free and she would be able to follow Padmé wherever she was. 

Now Padmé was grown and she didn't believe her mother's words, but she wanted to accomplish her wish. Now she was in the dessert, on the same spot that Anakin had found her. He was standing on the other side of the fire.

Anakin was staring into Padmé's eyes. The flames were being reflected on her glowing eyes, and gave her usual brown color a yellow-golden tone. Just like the night she had confessed Anakin that she loved him. This memory made Anakin lower his head, remembering how unfair he had been with her that night, where he almost lost her friendship.

Padmé noticed that Anakin was sad about something, and she hoped it wasn't for her. She stood up and walked towards him. Then she kneeled next to him and grabbed his hand.

"What is it, Ani?", she asked in a low tone. Her voice was still shaking though she had stopped crying hours ago. Anakin looked up at her.

"I'm sorry about my behavior the other night in my room. I acted like a hipocrit, and you didn't deserve that. I've realized that my feelings towards you have changed, in a good way", he answered. Padmé lowered her head.

"You don't have to say this because my mother's dead, Anakin", she said in a hard, but at the same time sad tone. Anakin shook his head and looked into her eyes.

"No, Padmé, please don't think that I'm saying this because your mother died. I'm saying this because it's true, and I'm a fool for not telling you before", he explained.

"Tell me what, Ani", she whispered. Anakin smiled at her and cupped her face.

"That I love you, Padmé", was his reply. Padmé froze, she couldn't believe what she'd just heard. She blinked a couple of times and tried to speak.

"W...what?", she asked dryly. Anakin caressed her face tenderly.

"I love you". He leaned over to kiss her and she returned the kiss, lost in his embrace. This was a strange day... First, her mother died and then Anakin said that he loved her? Padmé had a strange mix of emotions build up in her heart, this was far too weird. 

After a couple of minutes, Padmé remembered that they were in front of her mother, or what was left of Shmi, and Padmé broke the kiss. Anakin wrapped her arms around her and let her back rest on his chest. They kept quiet and they didn't move at all, the only motion that could be noticed were their chests, while they breathed in a peaceful pace. Soon after that, Padmé fell asleep and Anakin, not wanting her to freeze to death, covered her with his cape. Minutes later, he followed Padmé and fell asleep.

*

It was the middle of the night, and Padmé woke up shaking. But it wasn't her, because she wasn't cold at all. She turned her head to see a pale Anakin, his chin was tremmbling and he had purple lips. He was freezing to death in the cold Tatooine night. Padmé tried to wake him up inmediately, afraid that he had passed out already.

"Anakin, Ani, wake up!!", she said as she slapped him on the face, but it was useless: he was uncontience. Padmé brought her hands to her face and covered her eyes. "Oh, Force...", she said over and over. Suddenly, an idea came up to her mind. "The Force!!", she said excited.

Padmé kneeled on the sand and concentrated hardly. Slowly, Anakin begun to lift from the sand and floated towards the speeder. Padmé carefully sited him on the co-pilot's seat, and when she made sure that he was fine, she ran towards him and covered him with a blanket she found under the seat. She made sure that the blanket was covering every inch of his body before she jumped on the pilot's seat and drove away. She turned her head once to see her mother's 'grave' for the last time and headed to Mos Espa.

After asking the salesman that gave Anakin the speeder where was his ship, she headed towards the spaceport. /My, this city has changed.../, Padmé thought as she reached the hangar. When she got there, two guards and Sabé were outside the ship, pacing in the sand, apparently waiting for their master. When they saw the co-pilot's seat on the speeder, they rushed to it and brought Anakin inside the ship to his chambers.

*

"Ouch!", Anakin yelled when he felt the needle on his arm. A medical droid was giving him a shot for hipothermia. Anakin rubbed his arm once the droid was finished and look around him. There was a worried Padmé sitting on a chair nearby. She stood up and sat on Anakin's bed.

"How are you feeling?", she asked softly. Anakin frowned.

"I hate needles...", he complained. Padmé smiled and turned to Sabé and the guards that were in the room too. Anakin blushed.

"He's fine", she said. There were a couple of relieved sighs and the crew exited the room, leaving Padmé and the senator alone.

"Why didn't you tell me that they were in here too? That was so embarrassing...", Anakin said. Padmé laughed at him and kissed his forehead.

"There was no time to warn you, you were too busy complaining like a baby", she teased. Anakin was about to say something but a smile defeated his pride.

"Yeah, I guess you're right...". He was about to say something else when a powerful coff invaded his mouth. After drinking a glass of water Padmé gave him, he calmed down.

"You better have some rest or you will get sick", she warned.

"I hope I didn't catch a virus or something...", Anakin added a little worried. This only brought a smile to Padmé's face.

"Tell me: what kind of virus can you get in the middle of nowhere? It's jusnakin", she said amused. Anakin rested his head on the pillow when he realized she was right. He was getting very grumpy and he was only 24...

A couple of hours later, Anakin opened his eyes. Padmé was still there, and she was siting on the floor, meditating. But it seemed that she was having a hard time trying to, because her breathing was hard and her eyes were tightly shut. Anakin noticed that she was muttering something through her clenched teeth, and that she was beggining to sweat. She was angry at something, but Anakin couldn't put his finger on it. 

Then, he remembered what Padmé had done: she murdered, in cold blood, many Tusken Raiders, leaving their childs with no parents. The little ones would only last a couple of days without having their parents feeding them and protecting them. How could someone like Padmé do such a thing? She looked so inocent and peaceful, she was such a charming woman, so good and concerned for others. 

/Well, obviously not for Tusken Raiders, that's for sure/, Anakin thought.

"I heard you", Padmé said all of the sudden. Anakin sited up straight and looked at her.

"I'm sorry", he said a little embarrassed. Padmé opened her eyes, and they had that dark look from other times, but the darkness soon turned into light, and she was looking kindly at Anakin now.

"Don't worry, it's alright...", she said. Now she was the one embarrassed. What did Anakin think of her now?

"Padmé, I'm not judging you for what you did, and I never will, because that's not my job. Whenever I would hurt my sisters or cousins when I was little, I always felt guilty afterwards", Anakin said, but he paused when Padmé sat by his side. "And my mother always used to tell me that to be mad is to be human". Padmé squeezed his hand in apreciation.

"Thank you, Anakin. But still... I feel terrible, you know why?". Anakin shook his head. "Because I don't regret what I did. Funny, isn't it? I feel terrible but I don't regret it... I'm so confused", she said as she brought her hands to her face.

"Confused how, Padmé?", Anakin asked. 

"I'll be honest with you, Anakin: I think that I'm slowly being pulled to the dark side"


	9. Not so sure

Anakin didn't know how to react to Padmé's confession. Should he be afraid, or worried, or concerned, or sad...? He didn't know, and he was confused. In a way, he sensed this darkness in Padmé, but he couldn't tell what it was exactly. Now he knew it. Anakin couldn't come up with anything by that moment. He jut held her hand.

"How...can I help you, is there anything I can do?", he said slowly.

"I don't know... I wish I had all the answers I need, but I don't".

"Have you considered to talk about this with master Yoda, or Obi-Wan?". Padmé shook her head.

"That would only make things worst...", she said.

"How do you know that?", Anakin asked. Padmé stood up and gave him a hard look.

"I just know! The Jedi have always had doubts about my training, and I know that they will reject me!", she said almost yelling.

"It's obvious that you haven't even tried to talk to them yet, so why don't you try? They can help you, I know! They will advice you, they want the best for you, I know it", Anakin objected. Padmé sighed, revealing that she was calming down. Anakin reached for her hand, gently pulling her to sit next to him. "Padmé, I don't want to lose you over the dark side". Padmé looked at him, but lowered her gaze again. "Please, promise me that you will speak to Obi-Wan about this", he pleaded.

Padmé lifted her head when she felt Anakin's hand against her cheek, softly caressing it. Padmé grabbed his hand and smiled.

"Alright, I'll talk to him while you sleep", she said.

"Why don't you talk to him right now, or in the morning?", he asked.

"What? Don't tell me that you don't trust me...", Padmé said in a hard tone. Anakin sighed.

"You are right. Call him whenever you want to, I trust you", he smiled and kissed her.

A couple of hours later, Anakin was asleep. Padmé was trying to reach Obi-Wan through her comm-link, but it didn't work. Padmé was a little worried, because she never had any trouble finding Obi-Wan or any other person. It couldn't be an area problem, because they were on their way back to Naboo, and the planet was closer to Courasant. Finaly, she got a signal, and a blurry image of her master appeared before her.

"Master, can you hear me?", she said.

"Yes, but the image is not so good, I'm talking to you from the inside of a cave in Geneosis. What do you need me for?", he asked. Padmé looked at her hands.

"I need to talk to you about something very important, Master. I think that it will be better if we meet, I don't want to talk to you about this through a comm-link". Obi-Wan grabbed his chin and played with his beard. He always did that when he was thinking.

"Alright, I'll see you when I come back from Geneosis. I'm in a very important mission here, and I can't leave everything behind", he said.

"Fine, it's fine by me", Padmé replied a little disappointed.

*

"So tell me, how did it go?", Anakin asked curious. They were about to arrive to Naboo, and he was already dressed. Padmé sat down on a chair in his room and sighed. Should he tel him the truth, or should she lie to Anakin so that he wouldn't be so concerned about her?

"Well, it was hard at first, but he was very understanding with me. i think that I'm fine now", she lied. She was about to tell Anakin the truth, when a smile appeared on his face. That held the truth back. Anakin kneeled before Padmé and hugged her.

"That's great, I'm so happy for you!", he said in relief. Padmé just wrapped her arms around him in an effort to feel better. 

"Me too...", she whispered.

*

Back in Naboo.

Anakin and Padmé were having dinner very quietly. Anakin was a little worried for Padmé, she had been silent since they arrived to the lake retreat. He smiled when he remembered something that could make her feel better.

"Hey, you are not going to make my food levitate?", he asked smiling. Padmé didn't raise her head and kept looking at her food.

"No, I don't feel like it. Besides, I'm supposed not to make use of the Force just for fun, it's not a toy", she replied. Anakin forwned.

"Oh, I'm sorry", he said. Padmé wiped her mouth with the napkin and stood up.

"Don't be, it's alright". After saying that, she left the room. Anakin was confused, so he followed her to ask for a better explanation. He found her sitting on the balcony's rail, watching the lake.

"You didn't talk to Obi-Wan, did you?", Anakin asked looking at Padmé. When she shook her head, Anakin sighed. "Why did you lie to me, then?", he asked.

"I didn't want you to get worried, what's the point?"

"What's the point? Padmé, this is very serious and dangerous, how can you ask me not to het worried?", he interrupted. Padmé turned to look at him. she had been crying, Anakin could tell by the glow in her eyes.

I know, I'm sorry...", she repied as she wrapped her arms around him. Anakin returned the embrace and tried to comfort her. "Obi-Wan will be gone for some time, and I wanted to talk to him about his in person, it's not something to discuss through a hologram. I'll wait untill he returns, then I'll talk to him". Anakin nodded.

"Good... You are right, it's better that you meet him. i'm sorry if I made you feel guilty in any level, I didn't mean it", he said. Padmé smiled.

"It's alright, don't worry". Anakin leaned over to kiss her and then he rested his chin on her hair. 

Though they had talk about the subject and they had agreed to do something about it, Anakin was still worried about Padmé and her dark side. Was there anything that he could do to make her feel better? Maybe if he could make her feel safe she wouldn't be afraid or emocionally unstable. What if he...? No, it was a crazy idea. Maybe, if they... No, it was to soon!! But if he could make Padmé feel better... It was worth to try.

Anakin cleared his throat and released Padmé. He gave a couple of steps back and knelt before her. Padmé opened her eyes wide, shocked.

"Padmé, will you marry me?", Anakin asked.


	10. What?

If there was a time for Anakin to shield his mind, this was it.

"What?", Padmé asked in disbelief.

"Will you marry me?", Anakin asked again. Padmé stepped away from him and leaned on the rail.

"Why are you doing this, Anakin?", Padmé asked looking at the floor.

"Because I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you", he answered. Anakin stood up and walked towards her. He grabbed her hands and looked deeply into her eyes. "What do you say?", he insisted. Padmé smiled and kissed him, then they hugged.

"Yes, yes! I'll marry you, Anakin", she said cheerfuly. 

Anakin kept his look on the lake, disbelieving what he had just done. He loved Padmé, but marriage? It was too soon, and they weren't allowed to be in love in the first place, so why do this? He remembered the reason: to help Padmé, to keep her away from the dark side. 

//This was the right thing to do...//, Anakin kept repeating in his mind, trying to convince himself of this decission. 

"We will get married as soon as possible, alright?", he said softly. Padmé just nodded, she wasn't able to form any words, she was too excited and a knot was built in her throat.

*

Anakin couldn't sleep. The thought of marrying Padmé was just too much for him. They had only met again days ago after ten years! One thing was for sure: this was a tough decission. In part, Anakin was happy to have a commitment such as marriage with Padmé because they loved each other, but was that enough? Did they really trust each other? After what Padmé had told him, it was clear that it was hard for her to keep her promise about talking to Obi-Wan. Anakin also remembered that conversation they'd had days ago in the meadow, about lying for a noble cause. Now, Anakin was sure he couldn't totally trust her.

Padmé couldn't sleep either, she was too happy to even try to close her eyes. She was going to marry the man she had loved all of her life. He loved her back, and he had proove it by asking her to marry him. This couldn't be real, it was just too much to handle. Padmé got out of bed and put on her robe to take a walk on the gardens. She needed some fresh air.

Once on the garden, Padmé felt calmed. It was a little chilly, but she didn't mind, the feeling of being happy was more important and comforting than being cold. Padmé heard a noise coming from the other side of the bushes. It turned out to be Anakin, who was also taking a walk. Padmé smiled.

"Padmé, what are you doing here?", he asked a little uncomfortable.

"Same as you, taking a walk. You are nervous too, aren't you?", she asked. Anakin forced a smile and sat on a stone bench.

"Padmé, we need to talk, please sit down with me", he said in a serious tone. Padmé frowned and sat by his side, grabbing his hand.

"Tell me, Ani", she said. Anakin sighed and grabbed her other hand.

"We need to talk about our marriage. Please listen to me first and then you can talk", he said. Padmé nodded. "If we are getting married we need to keep it a secret, at least for some time, until things cool off a little bit. It will be better if we get married here on Naboo, hopefuly this week". Anakin paused and looked at her. A warm feeling went through his body. He smiled at Padmé and squeezed her hand. "I can't wait until we are married, Padmé". He meant what he said. Padmé smiled.

"I can't wait either, Anakin. I love you".

"I love you too, Padmé", he said before they kissed.

*

Anakin was on the balcony waiting to see sunrise. Maybe that way he could stop the feelings that were invading his mind. He was starting to regret his decission, he realized he wasn't ready for such a big step on his life. This was a big step for both of them, because it was going to affect both of their lives. His thoughts were interrupted by Padmé's footsteps. Anakin stood straight and stared at the rising sun.

"Good morning", Padmé said raising upon her feet to kiss Anakin, but he turned his face and Padmé kissed his cheek, a little confused.

"Hi", was his dry reply. "I'm going to the city to make some arrangements for the wedding, you should come with Sabé", he suggested.

"Oh, alright", Padmé said.

"Excuse me, I have to talk to the pilot", Anakin said before he walked inside the house. Padmé leaned on the rail and watched the sun as it rised through the mountains. She was a little confused about Anakin's strange behavior.

The next day, nobody talked. Anakin was too confused and Padmé was too nervous. That afternoon was going to be the wedding, and hours seemed to take days to go by. Both Anakin and Padmé had agreed to have a simple wedding, just a short ceremony where they could exchange their vowls.

There was only one hour left until the wedding, and Padmé started to get ready. Her wedding dress was quite simple, nothing too fancy or elegant. It was just a long strapless dress. She decided to wear her hair loose, and a little white flower over her right ear to match the color of her dress. 

Anakin was getting dressed, too. He wore black pants with yellow stripes on the sides, a white shirt and black leather boots. He pushed his hair back with his hands and some water to keep it still. He watched his reflection on the mirror making sure that he looked perfect. After fixing the last details he opened the drawer on his shelf and brought out a little box. Now he was ready.

It was late in the afternoon, but the sun was still shining and giving the sky an orange-golden color. It was a lovely sight, unfortunately Anakin couldn't enjoy it. He was waiting for Padmé in the garden. What was taking her so long? The holy man was getting umpacient too. 

Finally, Sabé appeared with Padmé following her. Anakin felt how relief washed over him and cleared his throat. Padmé's smile made her face glow and her cheeks blush. Anakin stepped to her and reached for her hand. When Padmé gave it to him, she smiled. They walked towards the holy man.

Anakin's heart was beating out of fear, Padmé's was beating out of joy. The holy man started, and after exchanging vowls, they were husband and wife. After the traditional first kiss as a married couple, they walked towards the house holding hands. They were turning on a corner when...

 "Padawan, what's the meaning of this?", Obi-Wan asked in a hard tone.


	11. Explanations

Padmé froze. What would she answer? She was wearing a white dress and holding Anakin's hand. It was obvious that something was going on...

"Ah, Obi-Wan, so nice to see you again", Anakin said smiling. Obi-Wan bowed respetfully.

"Thank you, m'lord. Padmé, I'm waiting", he said turning to Padmé. She was going to say something, but Anakin interrupted her before she could speak.

"We're just arriving from a party in a friend's house. I couldn't leave without Padmé, so I took her with me. That's why we are dressed like this", he said. Padmé smiled and nodded to Obi-Wan, who frowned.

"Oh, I see...", Obi-Wan said disbelieving Anakin's explanation. He tried to read his thoughts, but he was strong minded, and whatever he was hiding, he was doing it well. "Padmé, that dress..."

"Doesn't she look beautiful?", Anakin said spinning her around. Obi-Wan nodded.

"Yes, she does", Obi-Wan said giving her a hard look. Padmé lowered her head. "Senator, would you mind leaving us alone? I have to talk with my Padawan". Anakin smiled.

"Of course. It's great to have you here, Obi-Wan", he said shaking his hand. Obi-Wan couldn't help to smile in return. After that, Master and Padawan were left alone. Padmé played with a lock of her hair, as she always did when she was nervous.

"Now, Padmé, please tell me the truth". There was an awkward silence. Padmé lifted her head and looked at Obi-Wan.

"We were on a party", she said.

"But that dress...", Obi-Wan pointed.

"I know what you are thinking, Master. I shouldn't have dresses like this, but I had to wear something else than my Jedi robes to go to a party as formal as the one we just went, I had no choice", she said shaking her head. Obi-Wan smiled.

"Don't play the victim here, you love to wear dresses". Padmé smiled: her Master bought every word she and Anakin said.

*

Dinner went ok. Anakin made all he could to avoid any awkward silences or disturbung topics, like the 'party', the relationship between Padmé and Anakin, the Sith, and stuff like that. Padmé kept silent, she didn't talk unless somebody asked her something. Obi-Wan noticed this and grew curious.

"Padawan, I thought that maybe after dinner we could talk about that very important thing you wanted to tell me", Obi-Wan said. Padmé swallowed hard and Anakin almost choked with his food when they heard the Jedi's words. Padmé looked at him and nodded.

"Yes of course, Master".

*

After dinner, Anakin retired to his chambers while Padmé and Obi-Wan talked in the living room. Padmé was very tense, and she kept tugging her hair and robe. Obi-Wan acted as if he didn't notice this and asked:

"So tell me, my young Padawan, what's this all about", he asked waving his hands in the air. Padmé decided to cut straight into the point. She took a deep breath and looked at Obi-Wan, who was staring at her expectantly.

"Master, darkness is haunting me, and apparently, it will stay in me for good", she said. Obi-Wan frowned.

"Explain better", he said, thinking that Padmé meant another thing than the one he feared.

"I feel the dark side sourrounding me and taking over control. It's playing with my mind and feelings, it's blinding me. I'm afraid, frightened, and no matter how hard I try, anger always overcomes. What can I do, Master? help me, please", Padmé said, her voice shaking. Obi-Wan kept quiet for a minute and sat in front of Padmé. 

"For a start, you don't have to be afraid, we both know that fear leads us to the dark side, right?". He spoke softly to let her know that she wasn't alone in this. Padmé gave him a weak smile and nodded. Obi-Wan returned the smile and placed a friendly hand on her shoulder.

"We have to work on this together, Padmé. I'm glad that you came to me first before telling this to anyone else". Padmé lowered her head. "Who else knows, Padmé?", her master asked reading her eyes.

"Senator Skywalker knows. I had to tell him, he was beggining to notice. He was the one that made me realize what was going on with me", she explained. After a while, Obi-Wan nodded.

"Yes, you did the right thing. Besides, I think we can trust him", he said. Padmé just nodded. "Well, tomorrow we'll talk more about this. I'll go to my room now, the trip from Geneosis to here was very tireing", Obi-Wan said standing up.

"Where's your room, Master", Padmé asked standing up as well. Obi-Wan raised a brow and smiled.

"Across the hall from yours, why?", he asked. Padmé smiled back and shook her head.

"It's just good to know where you are, Master, that's all", she said. Obi-Wan frowned and sighed.

"Young women...", he whispered as he walked to his room. Padmé sighed in relief and sat on the couch. She lifted her head when she noticed that someone else was in the room besides her.

"Who's there?", she asked. Anakin appeared from behind a column and stepped into the moonlight.

"It's me. is Obi-Wan gone, now?", he whispered. Padmé nodded and rushed to his arms. Anakin returned the embrace with a very serious expression on his face.

"What are we going to do with my Master here? He can't know about our marriage", Padmé said a little worried. 

"We'll just have to pretend while he's here. Did he tell you when he was leaving?", Anakin asked curious. Padmé nodded.

"Yes, after dinner he told me that the council expected him back in Courasant in a couple of days, maybe less. He'll probably leave tomorrow in the evening", she answered. Then she lifted her head and smiled at Anakin. "Then we'll have our wedding night", she said grinning. Anakin smiled and kissed her. They kissed for a while, until they were interrupted.

"Padawan!!", Obi-Wan yelled from the door. Padmé pushed Anakin away and froze. There was no excuse she could make up now, at least not a believable one. She was going to say something when Anakin stepped to the front.

"Obi-Wan, I'll explain this to you", he said. Obi-Wan nodded.

"Yes, I'd like that", he said in a hard tone. Anakin turned to Padmé with a pleading look in his eyes.

Padmé gave him a puzzled look and he reasured her with a smile.

"Alright", she said. When she walked by Obi-Wan, he gave her a hard look. When she was out of the room, Obi-Wan made sure that she wasn't behind the door listening.

"Master Kenobi, please come to the terrace with me", Anakin asked seriously. Obi-Wan nodded and followed him. Once outside, Anakin spoke up.

"As you know, Padmé is being tempted by the dark side", he began.

"Yes, but how does that has anything to do with what I just saw in there?", he asked a little annoyed.

"Everything", Anakin replied. This only made Obi-Wan's confusion to increase. "Padmé and I are in love, Obi-Wan, and that's the only thing that's being keeping her from giving into her anger. She is so much different when we are together, she's happy and calmed".

"Wait a second... are you telling me that you and Padmé are having an affair?", Kenobi asked in disbelief. Anakin shook his head. "Then...?"

"We are married", Anakin answered firmly. He noticed that Obi-Wan was going to say something but he cut in before he could say anything. "Our marriage is to make her feel safe, to let her know that she isn't alone. Right now, it's the only thing that's keeping her on the light side", he explained.

"Does she know the reasons of your marriage?", Obi-Wan asked. Anakin shook his head. "How do you think that she'll react when she realized this? She's not stupid, senator. And did you think that something like marriage would keep her from turning to the dark side? Yes, braking the Jedi Code is a great idea to stay in the light side, m'lord...", he said sarcastically. Anakin rolled his eyes.

"You don't get it. It's the Jedi code that's making her anger grow. She needs someone to comfort her, to be by her side, and that person..."

"Is going to be you?", Obi-Wan interrupted. Anakin nodded.

"Please, Obi-Wan, don't tell anything to the council, not unless Padmé is in danger. I'll let you know if anything happens. Please, let me help her", Anakin pleaded. After a long silence, Obi-Wan sighed.

"Alright... I'll not say anything about this to the council. But what if Padmé is safe, what will happen to your marriage?", he asked. Anakin sighed.

"We'll keep it a secret". After seeing Kenobi's reaction, he continued. "Please, Obi-Wan. There's nothing else to do".

"Fine, I shall retire now", he said walking back inside.

"Sleep well", Anakin said politely. Obi-Wan turned around.

"I'm leaving tonight, so we'll not see each other in a long time. I'll make up some excuse to the council so that Padmé can stay here as long as possible", he said. Anakin smiled.

"I appreciate it". Obi-Wan nodded.

"Take care of her", Kenobi said before leaving Anakin alone.

*

Padmé was confused. Why was Obi-Wan's shuttle leaving so soon? She decided to find out with Anakin. Just as she was walking outside her room Anakin was walking inside.

"Anakin, what happened? Why is Obi-Wan leaving, what did you tell him?", she asked nervous. Anakin placed his hands on her shoulders to calm her down.

"I told him the truth, he was fine with our marriage and promised not to tell anyone, not even the council. Don't worry, we'll be fine", he said as he wrapped his arms around her. "He also told me that he'll speak to the council so that you can stay here as long as possible". After hearing this, Padmé smiled and looked at Anakin.

"Really, I can stay here with you?", she asked in disbelief. Anakin smiled at her childish reaction. He simply nodded, what made Padmé's smile to widen even more. Anakin smiled and kissed her. "I love you", she whispered.

"I know", Anakin replied dryly. Padmé smiled.

"That wasn't the answer I was expecting, you know?", she said. For an answer, she got a possesive kiss from her husband. Anakin was her husband now, and she was his wife. This thought disturbed Anakin somehow. He had married Padmé to protect her. He loved her too, but mostly the marriage was about protection, safety. Suddenly, Padmé pushed him away. Anakin embraced her but she pushed him once again.

"Padmé, what is it?", he asked confused. Padmé's eyes were spitting fire.

"Protection? Is that what this is all about, Anakin?", she said in a hard tone. Her voice was full of anger, but mostly, she was hurt. 

"Padmé, listen to me...", he started.

"No, you listen! You married me not because you loved me, but because you were afraid of me and my temper. I can't believe this...", she said turning to the window, trying to hide her tears. Anakin sighed and lowered his head. He had no excuse, he had nothing to tell her, except for the truth.

"Padmé, if I married you was because I needed to protect you, I need to be sure that you are alright. That's because I love you. You may think that I made a mistake, you are allowed to, but please don't hate me", he said. 

Padmé bit her lips to keep her sobbs for herself. She didn't know what to think, because she loved Anakin, but what he had done to her was horrible, almost unforgivable. Padmé's thoughts were interrupted by the feeling of Anakin's arms around her waist. She tensed and didn't move an inch.

"Padmé, we are married now. Please, let's overcome this and start our life as a husband and wife with the right foot" ", Anakin said almost pleading. 

"How do I know that you'll never lie to me again?", she asked in a hard tone.

"You'll have to trust me, just like I trust you", Anakin answered. Padmé gave an ironic laugh when he finished.

"If you trust me, then why did you married me? You told me that you did it because you wanted to protect me. That means that you don't trust me". Anakin sighed when he realized she was right. He released her and walked to the door.

"I want you to know that I'm really sorry for what I did, and that I love you". When he finished, he left the room. Padmé closed the door with the force and brought her hands to her face. She lied on her bed and cried hopelessly. What could she do now? Anakin had lied to her, and she couldn't even look at him at that moment. But they were married, and there was nothing that she could do to avoid him.

Padmé felt a weigth on her bed. She raised her head from the pillow and saw Anakin sitting next to her, looking straight into her eyes. Anakin wiped Padmé's tears away with his fingers and caressed her cheek. Though Padmé tried to avoid his touch, he didn't move his hand.

"It's alright, Padmé", he whispered. Padmé sighed and gently grabbed his hand. Anakin smiled and leaned down to kiss her. Padmé wrapped her arms around him and returned the kiss.


	12. Lies

Anakin woke up early in the morning. He felt a weight on his chest, and smiled to himself when he felt Padmé's breath ticklin him. He moved his hands to her arms and back and caressed them while he kissed her head. Padmé mumbled something, still asleep and rolled away from her husband. Anakin smiled and moved closer to her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and placed feather kisses on her neck. 

"Anakin, it's too early...", she said through her sleep. Anakin laughed and gave her a hard kiss on her cheek. Padmé frowned a little annoyed. "Come on, we only fell asleep hours ago, I'm tired", she said a little angry. Anakin's smile widened.

"Alright. Then I'll just look at you while you sleep", he said resting his head on her shoulder. Padmé turned around and dropped her head on the pillow.

"Alright, NOW I'm up. I hate when people watch me when I sleep", she said rolling her eyes. Anakin smiled and kissed her forehead.

"If only you knew how many times I've watched you sleep...", he said bringing her closer to him. Padmé rested her head on his chest and sighed.

"You are lucky I didn't know, but you've already told me".

"Oh no, now I'm dead", he said sarcastically. Padmé sighed and sat up. She wrapped a sheet around her and walked away. Anakin was confused. He sat up and spoke: "Padmé, please... I was just kiddin!". Padmé turned around and raised a brow.

"I know, I'm just going to the freshner", she said. Anakin blinked a couple of times.

"Oh...", he said confused. Padmé laughed at him.

"You are so dramatic, Anakin", she said as she walked into the freshner and closed the door. Anakin smiled to himself and dropped his head on the pillow. He entwined his fingers under his head and sighed. 

He was happy because he didn't feel that he had married Padmé because he was afraid of what was to become of her. He felt that he had married her for love, because he really wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. His thoughts were interrupted by a vision presented before his eyes.

Padmé was coming outside of the freshner, with a sheet around her body and her hair falling freely over her shoulders. She gave her husband a puzzled look when she saw his expression. 

"What?", she asked raising a brow and kneeling on the bed.

"You look so beautiful like that", Anakin said softly. Padmé laughed.

"Like this? Ani, I'm just wearing a white sheet and you are almost drewling...", she said smiling. Anakin blushed and lowered his head. Padmé crawled towards him and lifted his face. "I think it's very sweet. Besides, that way I don't have to get all dressed up to impress you", she said smiling. 

Anakin pulled her closer and kissed her. When they broke apart, Padmé hugged him and lied next to him. there was a nice quiet moment between them, but Anakin needed to ask her something before he went insane.

"Padmé...", he started a little unsecure.

"Yes, Ani?", she asked. Anakin entwined his fingers with hers and took a deep breath.

"Did you forgive me?", he asked, afraid of her answer. Padmé lifted her head and looked at him. "Or you're still upset?". Padmé sighed heavyly and leaned on her elbow.

"Anakin, I'll be honest: I haven't forgotten about what you did to me", she paused when she saw Anakin turning his head to the wall in shame. She grabbed his chin to make him look at her. "But I still want to be with you. I'm your wife after all...", she said burrying her head on the crook of his neck. Anakin smiled warmly and tightened his embrace.

"I love you, Padmé", he said closing his eyes. Padmé smiled.

"I know".

*

That afternoon, Padmé was on the terrace watching the sunset. Anakin was inside and noticed that his wife was sad, afraid, maybe. He walked outside and placed his hands on her shoulders. Padmé gave a little jump and looked at him.

"Hey", she said smiling. Anakin smiled back and kissed her temple.

"Hey. Are you alright? You look as if something's troubling you", he said a little worried. Padmé sighed and turned to look at him.

"I can't lie to you, Anakin. I'm thinking about Tatooine and everything that happened there". At the last words, she lowered her head. Anakin wrapped his arms around her and let her cry freely on his chest.

"Don't worry, it's alright...", he started, but Padmé interrupted.

"How can you tell me that?". She released from his embrace and walked away from him. She turned around, and there it was again, that dark look that Anakin feared. 

"Nothing's alright, Anakin. My mother died in my arms and I murdered her killers. And you want to know the worst part? I don't regret it. Not at all, not one little bit. In fact, I wished I would've tortured them more than I did. I regret not making them suffer enough...", she trailed off when tears beat her anger. Padmé sat on the cold marble floor and cried. Anakin rushed to her side and hugged her.

"I don't understand the way you feel, and maybe I never will. But you must know that I'll always be by your side, alright? I want you to remember that", he said softly.

"I'll need you more than ever, Anakin. I need to control myself, and I can't do it alone", she managed to say. Anakin rubbed her back and cleaned her face with his sleeve.

"Do you want to talk about it?", he asked softly. Padmé nodded. "Alright, but let's go inside, it's getting cold"

*

Padmé and Anakin were sitting on a couch in their bedroom. Padmé was really nervous, so was Anakin. Every time Padmé was going to say something, fear and shame held her back. Anakin grabbed her hand to encourage her.

"Tell me, Padmé", Anakin said. Padmé took a deep breath and started.

"Ever since I can recall, I've had two sides. There's the good side, the one that you've known for so long, and the other one, that you've recently met. I always feel these darker side haunting me, and when it's showing, I feel so powerful, as if nothing could ever beat me", she said with a dark look in her eyes. After a couple of seconds, her look softened. "But then, regret comes and I don't feel powerful anymore. I feel weak, I don't have control over anything, I fear for myself". She stopped to take a deep breath, but then she realized that there was nothing left to be said.

"Have you ever tried to control this?", Anakin asked curious. Padmé shrugged.

"When it hits me, I can't do anything to control it. I lose my mind, as I told you before, I have no control over myself".

"But Padmé, I'm sure that if you tried you could control you anger", he insisted. Padmé sighed heavyly and released her hands.

"Anakin, why do you insist on this?", she said standing up and walking towards the center of the room. "There are things that just can't happen, that can't be done", she said in a hard tone. Anakin stood up a little upset.

"How do yo know that? You are giving up before even trying to do something for yourself! You've got to try, Padmé, you will just have to!", he said. Padmé turned around very slowly to face him. She was trying to remain calmed, Anakin could tell by her hard breathing.

"You think I don't try??!!", she yelled. Anakin gave a little jump at her screaming. She was totaly out of control. "I try my best, believe me. but it's very, and I mean VERY, hard, almost impossible. Right now, I'm trying. Imagine how angry I would be if I weren't trying!!", she said still yelling.

"Padmé, I...I'm sorry", Anakin said. Padmé rolled her eyes and fisted her hands.

"Stop saying that you're sorry, you always have an excuse for everything!", she said angry. Anakin lowered his head. Padmé took a couple of deep breaths and opened her eyes. "I've been trying, Ani. Just...just give me some credit for it, alright?", she said in a soft tone. Anakin stood up and walked towards her.

"Alright, I promise", he said smiling at her. Padmé returned the smile and hugged him. Anakin kissed her temple and rubbed her back. "By the way, did I mentioned how wonderful you look today?". Padmé laughed and looked at him.

"Only five times this morning", she said smiling. Anakin raised a brow.

"Really? Well, I can't get tired of saying it". Padmé rolled her eyes and pushed him.

"Oh, I hate it when you get like that!", she said wrinkling her nose. Anakin frowned and raised his hands.

"Like what? Do explain...", he said.

"When you start to say things like that to me, all fluffy and...you know..."

"No I don't know", he said smiling.

"Yes you do!", she insisted. Anakin sighed and lowered his head. A mischievous smile appeared on his face and he looked at Padmé.

"You are as beautiful as a sunset in the lake. your hair is a waterfall of thoughts that only make me love you more by every minute that goes by...", he was interrupted by Padmé.

"No, no, no!", she said covering her ears. Anakin walked towards her and grabbed her wrists, bringing her hands down.

"And as much as I look at you, beloved, I can't get enough of your beauty, that blinds me every time I lay eyes on you", he said trying to remain serious.

"Oh, Anakin, you are so annoying. What can I do so that you stop all this fluffyness?", she asked almost pleading.

"Oh, no matter what you do, I'll never stop flattering you, beloved".

"Don't call me beloved!", Padmé said a little upset.

"Alright, my love", he smiled.

"Don't call me my love either", she said smiling.

"Fine, fine. I'll stop, Padmé", he said. Padmé sighed and hugged him. Anakin smiled and whispered something into her ear. Padmé pushed him away and left the room.

"That's it...", she said while she walked away. Anakin laughed and ran after her.

"I was just kiddin!", he yelled.

*

Later that afternoon, Padmé was sitting in the conference room trying to reach her master. She needed to talk to him, it was important for her to know what Obi-Wan thought about her marriage, and how this could help her to stay away from the dark side. She finaly reached him, and a hologram was displayed in front of her.

"Padawan, is something wrong?", Obi-Wan asked worried. Padmé shook her head. "Oh, then what is it?", he asked coldly.

"Master, I needed to talk to you about... are you alone?", she asked, remembering that Obi-Wan was at the temple. He shook his head and waved his hand, asking her to continue. "About my marriage to Anakin". 

"What about that?", he asked in a hard tone.

"Master, I need to know your opinion about it, at least say something", Padmé said in a shaking tone. Obi-Wan gave an ironic laugh.

"Oh, alright, then tell me, Padmé: how's the honeymoon going? Are you looking for a new house or are you staying at the lake forever?", he said. Padmé lowered her head.

"Master, please...", she said ashamed, but Obi-Wan interrupted her.

"Oh, I must be the "Force guardian" of your first child, after all, I AM your master..." Padmé's head was burning. She was trying to control her anger, but Obi-Wan kept talking and talking, embarrassing her, making her feel stupid and childish. That was it. Enough was enough.

"Stop it!", Padmé ordered. Obi-Wan stood still, impressed by her tone. Padmé kept her hard look on him, challenging her master. she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I didn't call you so that you could make me feel guilty for what I've done, and I won't either, because I haven't done anything bad".

"Padmé, you broke the code. You think that's not bad enough?", he asked. Padmé rolled her eyes.

"The code, the code... is that all you can think about, master? why don't you live your life, try to be happy, for a change!".

"Padmé, the Jedi is the life I chose, and I have to live by this life's rules. And I am happy, because I'm doing what I've always wanted". He paused when he saw how Padmé lowered her head. "We are different people, Padmé. We don't have to agree in everything. You are training to be a Jedi, because you wanted to, nobody forced you". Now Padmé let out an ironic laugh.

"Really? I wanted to be a Jedi, but then, everything around me was preassure to become the greatest Jedi ever, because I had to bring balance to the Force. Now I don't know if I want that job, it isn't as exciting as it used to be, like in my first years as a Padawan". Obi-Wan sighed.

"Yes, you are right. We put a lot of preassure on your shoulders, more than the one you need. But if we do that, is because you have great potencial. Now your priorities have changed". He paused and observed Padmé. " You really love him, don't you?", he asked raising a brow. Padmé blushed and smiled.

"Yes, I do", she said shyly. Obi-Wan smiled.

"And you don't regret marrying him?". Padmé's expression torn serious and she shook her head. Obi-Wan let out a long sigh. "I see you both feel the same way". Padmé smiled widely. "I'll keep your secret from the council and everyone else, but I don't know for how long I'll be able to cover up for you two..."

"Thank you, master. I really appreciate your help", Padmé said. Obi-Wan nodded and cut off the comunications. Padmé sighed and covered her face with her hands, trying to process everything that was happening in her life that moment. She felt a couple of comforting hands on her shoulders. She smiled and leaned back.

"Are you alright?", Anakin asked after kissing her head. Padmé nodded and sighed again. She opened her eyes and looked up at Anakin.

"That was Obi-Wan, we needed to talk about you and I".

"What did he say? I hope that you didn't have an argument...", Anakin feared. Padmé shook her head.

"No, everything is alright, at least for now. He can't lie to protect us forever...", she said trailing off at the last words. Anakin nodded.

"I know". There was an awkward silence. Anakin kneeled and sourrounded Padmé with his arms. "If anything happens, we'll face it together, I promise. Everything will be fine", he said. Padmé relaxed at his last words and rested her back on his chest.

"I hope so...", she whispered.

*

Two days later.

Obi-Wan came running towards Padmé and Anakin, who were at the balcony. Padmé frowned and turned to her master.

"Master, what is it?", she asked curious. After Obi-Wan recovered his breath, he spoke.

"I can't do this anymore, I can't continue this lie", he said.

"What are you talking about?", Anakin asked confused and afraid at the same time.

"The council is suspecting about you two, I can't cover up for you, there's no use for it anymore", he said shaking his head. Padmé was suspecting something herself...

"You told them", she said in a hard tone. Obi-Wan raised a brow. "Don't give me that look, you told them!!", she said angry. She was going towards her master, but Anakin caught her by the shoulders.

"Padmé control yourself...", he said into her ear. "Let him explain", he said looking at Obi-Wan. After a while, he sighed.

"You are right, I told them". Padmé's anger grew inside of her, and Anakin could feel it. "They questioned me about your relationship, and I had to tell them the truth. I'm sorry", he said lowering his head.

"No you don't", Padmé said in a hard tone. She released from Anakin's grip and walked inside.

"I'm sorry, senator. I hope you understand..."

"It's alright, Obi-Wan. You were performing your duty", he said shaking his head. A familiar noise caught his atention. He raised his head and saw Padmé holding her lightsaber tightly in both her hands, slowly approaching her master. "Padmé, no!"


	13. Crisis

Obi-Wan turned around and blocked Padmé's lightsaber with his own. They fought for a couple of minutes until Padmé kicked her master on the jaw. Kenobi fell to the floor uncontience. His padawan walked towards him, ready to attack again, but Anakin stood between them, blocking her way.

"Anakin, move", Padmé ordered in a hard tone. Anakin shook his head.

"No, I'm not moving. You can't continue this, Padmé, try to control yourself", he said.

"How can you ask me to do that? He betrayed us, he couldn't keep our secret, and now the council is going to expell me", she said angry.

"Padmé, remember our talk?", he asked softly. Padmé looked down and then up again, losing her grip on the lightsaber a little bit. "Please, this is Obi-Wan, your master and friend". Anakin paused and reached for her lightsaber. "Come on, give it to me", he said softly. Padmé sighed and gave Anakin her lightsaber. He left it on the floor, and as soon as he stood straight, Padmé rushed to his arms.

"Anakin...", she said. Her voice was trembling and her body was shaking. She seemed so afraid, so fragile. She tried to say something else, but no words would come out. Anakin rubbed her back in an effort to comfort his wife.

"It's alright, don't worry...", he whispered into her ear. Padmé hugged him even more tightly, as if she was afraid that Anakin would slip away from her. They didn't notice that Obi-Wan was standing up and walking towards them. Anakin turned his head to him with a pleading look. 

"Leave us", he said. Obi-Wan nodded and walked away until he was out of sight. Anakin looked down at Padmé, who had her head burried in his shirt. "Padmé...", he said softly. No answer. She was in some strange trance, almost in shock.

"Anakin...", she said once again, this time almost too low for Anakin to hear. Her shaking was increasing, she had no control over herself. Anakin took off his coat and placed it on her shoulders. He bent down and lifted Padmé to then carry her inside. She just hang her arms around Anakin's neck and closed her eyes.

*

Padmé woke up later that night on hers and Anakin's bed. She heard people in the room talking about her.

"Look, she's awake", a familliar voice said. She watched how Obi-Wan and Anakin walked towards her. Anakin sat down next to her and grabbed her hand.

"Are you alright?", he asked. Padmé was confused. She didn't remember anything that had happened before she woke up. Anakin noticed her confusion and gave her a weak smile. "You had some kind of crisis and went into shock. You've been asleep since then. Are you feeling better, did you have some rest?", he asked, his voice full of concern. Padmé closed her eyes and brought her free hand to her forehead.

"I guess so, I don't remember anything...", she whispered.

"That's normal, don't worry", Obi-Wan said. Padmé frowned.

"What are you doing here?", she asked confused. Obi-Wan and Anakin exchanged glances to then look at Padmé.

"You really don't remember anything?", Anakin asked even more concerned. Padmé shook her head. "Your master came to tell us that the council already knows about our marriage. After talking to us, you attacked him, you had a lightsaber duel".

"Really? I'm so sorry, master...", Padmé said ashamed. Obi-Wan smiled at her and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"It's alright, don't worry", he said smiling. Padmé smiled back and then looked at Anakin. Obi-Wan nodded. "I'll leave you alone", he said while he left the room.

"Thank you", Anakin said. When Obi-Wan closed the door, Anakin lied next to Padmé and covered her with his arm. She cuddled against him, still afraid of what they both didn't know. Ignorance was disturbing, not knowing what had happened to Padmé made them vulnerable to everything. They didn't know what they were up against.

"Anakin, what happened to me?", she asked in a shaky voice. Anakin drew her closer and sighed.

"I don't know, but I promise you that we'll find out as soon as possible". Anakin tried to sound convincing for Padmé's sake. He was scared enough, so why worry her more than needed?

"I'm so scared... I'm loosing control", she said starting to cry.

"Don't think about that now, you need to rest. Tomorrow we'll know what happened to you, alright?", he said softly. Padmé nodded. "Good. Now go back to sleep".

"Don't go, stay with me", she said afraid. Anakin kissed her head and rubbed her back.

"I'm not going anywhere", he assured her. Padmé sighed and after a couple of minutes, she fell back asleep. Now Anakin was free to wonder what exactly had happened to her. 

Why did she go into that strange shock after overcoming her anger? Maybe it was a big effort for Padmé to control herself, greater than Anakin had ever thought. That would be the reason why anger was always above anything else when Padmé's dark side showed up. But was the effort so great that it would eventually bring her into shock? 

Her shaking body and clouded mind after overcoming her anger towards Obi-Wan were the prove that backed up Anakin's theory.

If every time that she overcame her anger was going to end up like this, the battle against the dark side was going to be rough. But as husband and wife, Anakin and Padmé would win the battle. Anakin was certain about it. It just HAD to be like that, they couldn't lose. Anakin couldn't lose Padmé over the dark side.

*

Anakin got up early the next morning to go and talk to a healer so that he would check Padmé's health. But it was Naboo's holiday weekend, so there were no healers available that day. Anakin went back to the lake house and decided to talk to Obi-Wan. 

"What do you think it was?", Anakin asked curious.

"Obviously my padawan is making a big effort to control her feelings. If it weren't for you, she would've definitley attacked me yesterday. You were right, Anakin: your marriage will be good for Padmé", Obi-Wan admitted.

"I know. Besides yesterday's incident, we are very happy", he said allowing a smile to form on his face.

"It's just that... I've never seen her like that. She was so angry...", Obi-Wan said amazed. "There was a moment when I feared for her well being", he said looking at Anakin. He just nodded, and both of them lowered their heads. 

There was a long silence filled with unspoken words. Obi-Wan raised his head and then looked down. 

"She's awake", he said. Anakin looked at him and stood up.

"Excuse me", he said walking towards his room. 

He was walking across the hall when he heard Padmé calling him. He walked faster and faster, until he ended up running into his room. Padmé was sitting up on the bed and leaning on the numerous pillows towered behind her. She noticed that Anakin was in the door frame and smiled. 

"Ani, I was looking for you", she said in a cheerful tone. Anakin couldn't help to smile back. He walked inside the room and sat next to her.

"Did you sleep well?", he asked after kissing her.

"Yes, I had a lot of rest. I'm feeling as good as new", she said still smiling. Anakin was relieved.

"I'm glad to hear that. I was thinking that maybe today we could go on a picnic, what do you say?", he asked. Padmé smiled and brought her hands to his face.

"I would love that! The day is perfect for a picnic", she paused when she remembered something. "We are not bringing my master with us, right?", she asked raising a brow. Anakin laughed and shook his head. Padmé sighed rin relief. "Oh, good".


	14. Dark Thoughts, Terrifying Doubts

It was a beautiful day. The lake was shining like a mirror and the sand covering the shore was very soft. Though the surroundings were pleasent, the situation was tense. Padmé and Anakin barley talked during their little picnic at the beach, they exchanged awkward glances a couple of times, and all they could hear was the other's uncomfortable breathing. Why? Not even they knew the answer. The air was stiff and the silence was cold. All of the sudden it was uncomfortable to be around the other. Finally, Anakin got the nerve to talk first.

"What are you thinking?", he asked softly. He haven't talked in a while, and his voice was a little rusty. He cleared his throat and turned to look at his wife. Padmé shrugged.

"Um, I don't know. Nothing special", she answered in a loose tone.

"Oh", Anakin said dryly. Another deathly silence filled the air. "You want to know what happened to you, don't you?", he asked with a long sigh. Padmé turned to him and nodded. "Don't worry, I'm on it", Anakin asured her.

"I know, but still... I'd like to at least have a clue of what happened to me the other day. I see everything so blurry, it's so hard to remember what I was thinking at the moment". There was another deep silence between them. It was getting more uncomfortable every time!

"Why are we so uncomfortable with each other, Padmé?", Anakin asked suddenly. Padmé raised her head and looked at him terrified. She wanted to ask the very same question, but for no aparent reason, kept the doubt to herself. Padmé sighed and shook her head.

"I don't know, Ani", she answered softly. "Why don't we talk about something else instead of returning to 'the subject' each and every time we have a conversation?", she suggested. 

Anakin smiled at her and nodded. 'The subject' was Padmé's crisis after attacking Obi-Wan. It wasn't a very pleasent topic to have in a conversation between two newly weds. So they changed the topic, only that things got worse...

"Anakin, would you like to have children?", she asked smiling. "Not now, but eventually...", Padmé corrected herself, thinking that she had lightened things up a little bit. Anakin's jaw dropped.

"What?", he asked surprised. Padmé's smile disappeared.

"Would you like to have kids?", she asked in a more serious tone. Anakin tried to say something, but nothing came out from his mouth. He stared at the lake and shook his head.

"I... I don't know what to answer, Padmé", he said very uncomfortable.

"You DO want to have kids with me, right Anakin?", she asked in a harder tone. Anakin turned to look at her.

"I don't know", Anakin answered.

"You don't know. Is that all you can give me for an answer?", Padmé asked in disbelief. Anakin was about to say 'I don't know' again, but he thought it over and changed his mind.

"I'm sorry", he said. He wasn't making things any better, and both Padmé and Anakin knew this. Why couldn't he give her a real answer, something that would clear her doubts? Anakin wasn't really good in expressing his emotions, he was better at stating an opinion. After all, he was a senator, and his job was to live standing for his believes. 

Padmé stood up and fixed her clothes in an effort to make all the wrinkles and the sand to disappear. She let out a long sigh and stared at Anakin.

"Talk to me again when you have a real answer", she said before turning around and leaving the beach and Anakin all by himself, sitting on the sand.

He always did that. He always made Padmé angry, or disappointed at him. always left things the wrong way. Nothing was turning out the way he would have wished, everything was going down...

*

Anakin had been sitting on the steps of the house's doorway, waiting for Padmé to appear. Hours had gone by, and still no sign from her. Footsteps were heard from not far away. Anakin stood up in a jump when he saw Padmé walking towards the house. She had her lightsaber in her hand, captured in a tight grip. Her face didn't look any good either. She had this hard look. You could tell that her teeth were clenched by the way her jaw was turning white and wrinkled.

When she caught sight of her husband, her gaze softened. Suddenly, her chin wasn't as tight as it was just seconds ago. It started to shake, and her eyes were becoming as bright as glass, reflecting everything around her. Anakin realized that something wasn't right, so he inmediately ran towards her.

Padmé dropped her lightsaber and her eyes met Anakin's puzzled look.

"I've done something terrible", she whispered. There was a brief silence that was filled with Padmé's desperate sobs. She hugged Anakin tightly, never wanting to let him go. He returned the embrace, only that on his mind was the doubt of what Padmé had done. Padmé realized what he was feeling, it wasn't necessary to read his mind to know what was going through his head.

"I'll tell you later", she said softly. Anakin just nodded and tightened his arms around her. "I'm so sorry, I realy didn't mean what I did, I'm so sorry", she said over and over. Anakin's confusion grew by every second that went by. But there would be time to clear all of his doubts later. Now, his only duty was to be there for his wife.

*

After drinking several cups of medicinal herb's tea, Padmé calmed down. Now it was the perfect time to ask her.

"Padmé, what did you do earlier?", Anakin asked afraid of her answer. Padmé drank the tea that was left in her cup and looked at him, nearly piercing his eyes.

"I was walking down the road, to the mountains, when I saw a sheppard watching his animals. Well, he wasn't really watching them, because he was asleep. Suddenly, this urge to kill the animals came to me, so...", she drift off to take a look at her hands, claped around the cup. Anakin raised his brows in awe.

"You killed the animals?", he asked in disbelief.

"And almost killed the sheppard...", Padmé added lowering her head. Anakin ran his palms through his head, trying to clear his mind.

"Is he alright?", he asked, not knowing what else to say.

"Yes, I mind tricked him", Padmé answered ashamed. Anakin shook his head and hit the table with his fist.

"Gods, Padmé...", he said in a raised tone as he rose from his chair and walked away from her. "How could you do such a thing? People around here live of their animals and the products that these supply them! Now this poor man is going to arrive at his home empty handed! What will his family do?", he yelled in anger. 

His little speech only made Padmé feel worst than she already was. She burst out in crying and covered her face with her hands. Anakin let go a long and heavy sigh and walked towards the door. He stopped at the frame to look at Padmé.

"I try to understand you, Padmé, but I've got to draw the line somewhere. I just can't let everything go and act as if nothing had happened", he said before leaving her alone at the cold kitchen.

*

Padmé walked inside Anakin's room. He was sleeping on the bed, and the blankets were at his feet. A cold wind came from the window and Padmé noticed how he shivered. She walked towards him and covered her husband. The expression on his face caught her atention. He looked mad, at least that's what she tought, because his brows were down and close together. His jaw was tightly shut and his hands were clenched into fists. 

Padmé slowly brought her hand up and covered Anakin's. At the feeling of the touch, Anakin moved his hand away and mumbled something. Padmé smiled and grabbed his hand again. Authomatically, Anakin entwined his fingers with hers. After a couple of seconds, he slowly opened his eyes and looked at Padmé.

"What are you doing here?", he asked in a husky voice. For a moment, Padmé's mind went blank. 

"I... You were cold, so I covered you", she replied shyly. Anakin sighed.

"Thank you", was his dry response. There was an awkward silence between them. Finally, Padmé spoke up. 

"Why can't things be like they used to be?", she asked lowering her head.

"Because things aren't like they used to be, that's why", Anakin answered turning around and dropping Padmé's hand. She stared at her now empty hand for a while, thinking of what she had just heard.

"Do you regret marrying me?", she asked directly. No answer from him. the only thing she could hear coming from him was his hard breathing. Padmé nodded and stood up. "Well I don't regret marrying you, Anakin. I'm happy I did", she said in a shaky voice.

No answer this time either. Padmé wiped a tear that was coming out from her eye and left the room very hurt. After making sure that she wasn't in the room, Anakin stood up and headed to the conference room. He needed to speak to Obi-Wan.

"Good evening, m'lord. How can I help you?", Obi-Wan greeted politely.

"I'm glad I found you, Master Kenobi. I needed to talk to you about Padmé", Anakin said in a serious tone. As he got no answer, he continued. "Things aren't going as planned. She's starting to lose control over herself. I don't know what to do anymore!", he said upset.

"What happened now, what has she done?", the Jedi master asked, afraid of the senator's response. Anakin took a deep breath and opened his eyes.

"She killed an entire herd of country animals this afternoon, and she almost killed the sheppard", he replied. 

Obi-Wan sighed and brought his hands to his face, trying to hide his shame. He thought that this was all his fault. He was Padmé's master, and her behavior made him asume all the guilt. What had he done wrong?

"Was she angry or the rage just came out of the blue?", he asked in a low tone. This time, Anakin felt the guilt over his shoulders.

"We were talking about having children, and I didn't give her a good answer, so she got mad at me. She left, I should've ran after her...", Anakin regreted. At the word 'children', Obi-Wan couldn't hide his surprise.

"But senator, children?", he asked in awe. Anakin nodded. "Well, do you want to have children with my Padawan?", he put special emphasis in the word Padawan. Anakin shook his head.

"Looking at the situation as it is right now, I don't. Padmé is too unstable, I couldn't put a child at risk. It's too dangerous. Who knows how Padmé will be two years from now?", he asked, not really expecting an answer.

"I guess you're right. Too bad she doesn't see things your way, senator", Obi-Wan added. There was a brief silence, broken by Kenobi a couple of minutes later. "Senator, can I ask you something?", he said shyly.

"Yes, of course", Anakin said. Another brief silence, and the question came.

"Do you still love her? Do you regret marrying her?", he asked raising a brow.

"I don't know. All the things I loved about her are not there anymore. They are still inside her, I know it, but when her dark side shows there's not enough room for those things I love so much", he answered.

"And your marriage?", Obi-Wan asked leaning closer to the camera. Anakin lowered his head and stared at his hands.

"I'm starting to think it was a mistake...", he replied honestly. Obi-Wan stared at him with an 'I told you so' look in his eyes and shook his head.

"Well, senator... I have to go, the council's calling me. May the force be with you". Anakin didn't answer, so Obi-Wan cut off the comunications.

Anakin just sat there feeling sorry for himself and Padmé, thinking about all the things that had happened the last few weeks and how his decisions had changed his and Padmé's lives. What he didn't know, was that Padmé had been at the door, listening to the entire conversation Anakin and Obi-Wan had had just minutes ago. Her face was covered in tears of pain and treason, leaving her with a look of deep hurt in her eyes.

Betrayal.

She walked inside, not caring about the tears all over her face, and stood behind Anakin. The ideas crossing her head at that time were driving her insane. Their marriage was a lie, all about the two of them was. But what hurt her the most was the thought of Anakin not loving her. 

She heard him sob and taking short breaths, trying to stay calm and leaving all the anguish he felt a side. Soon he heard Padmé's sobs behind him. He lifted his head, stood up and slowly turned around. Her look was killing him, the only image of her standing right infront of him, crying her soul out, was too painful. But they had got to a point where there was no return.

"Padmé, I...", he started slowly. He paused to recover his breath, but it only made his sobbing to increase. Padmé wiped the tears on her face and cleared her throat.

"I'll leave in the morning". She turned around and left the room. Anakin walked after her at her same pace, slowly. They kept walking until they reached the door of Padmé's old room. She turned around and faced Anakin. They stared at each other for a while, trying to talk through their looks.

"Padmé, this doesn't mean that I don't love you. I do!", he explained, though she never asked for any explanation. She didn't answer. Anakin tried to hug her, but she stepped back. "Please, talk to me", he pleaded.

"Days ago, you promised me that whatever came to us, we were going to face it together", she said. Anakin lowered his head. "You promised". While guilt was building inside Anakin, Padmé walked inside her room and closed the door.

*

Padmé woke up the next morning with a strange feeling. But it wasn't an emotional feeling, it was physical. Something was sourrounding her by the waist. She turned her head and saw Anakin, whose eyes were half closed but still staring firmly at her.

"What are you doing here?", she asked coldly as she moved away from him. Anakin didn't care, and drew her closer to him. As much as she tried to get away from his arms, she couldn't. Besides, she had just opened her eyes seconds ago after a long night of sleep, and she was weak.

"I needed to have you by my side. I wanted to look at you", he answered in a tired tone. Padmé raised a brow.

"You were watching me all night?", she asked. Anakin nodded. "You know I hate that", she said turning around. "And I don't remember asking you to come to my bed...", she said in a hard tone.

"I don't need permission, I'm your husband", he answered firmly. Padmé smiled in an ironic way and turned to look at him.

"Funny... you don't act like my husband", she said. She noticed the look of hurt on his eyes and for a moment she regreted saying what she'd just said. But then she remembered the conversation Anakin and Obi-Wan had had in the conference room, and as fast as regret came, it left.

"Get out of my bed", she ordered in a hard tone. Anakin didn't move. He tightened his embrace and rested his chin on the top of her head. Padmé pushed him but he didn't move. "Anakin, go away", she insisted. Anakin lowered his head to kiss her, but as soon as their lips met, Padmé slapped him. Anakin was shocked. Padmé just gave him a hard look and stood up. 

"If you don't go, I'll leave". She wrapped her Jedi robe around her and looked at him again. "I'll get my things ready to leave. I'll be out of your house today", she statened. A look of horror formed in Anakin's eyes.

"No, Padmé, please!! You've got to stay here with me, I'm begging you!!", he pleaded. Padmé turned to face him.

"Why? Are you afraid that I might hurt some one? Don't worry, I won't. Ever since we met again things got worse in my life". Anakin lowered his head. After a breif silence, Padmé spoke up in a much softer tone. "But I'll take happy memories with me. I won't forget that you were there with me when my mother died, and that you tried to help me with my problems. But I can't be happy with just memories, Anakin". 

Anakin brought his hands to his face and cried. He didn't care that she was still there watching him. He had always been the strong one for both of them, but this was too much for him. 

He had failed her, and that was unbearable. He felt comforting arms sourrounding him, and he looked up to see Padmé holding him. He rested his head on her shoulder while she ran her hands through his hair, trying to comfort him.

"I'm sorry things ended up this way...", he said softly. He felt Padmé nodding. "Give me another chance, Padmé. Please...", he said between sobs. He only made things harder for Padmé. He felt a couple of tears on his neck that weren't his.

"No...", she whispered. Anakin embraced her and held her close to him, in an effort to let her know how much she meant to him.

"Please, Padmé... please. Let me show you that I can be a better husband than the one I've been", he begged.

"Ani, you are not that bad. You've been by my side when I needed you, you try to understand me and my problems. But you are giving up on me, and honestly, I don't know what to think about you. You regret marrying me, yet you ask me to give you another chance to be a better husband", she said.

"I admit that I've thought that our marriage was a mistake...", he paused to look at her. Tears were coming to her eyes and he wiped them away. "But all those thoughts disappear when I'm with you, like this, in your arms". Padmé smiled and Anakin frowned. "What?", he asked confused.

"You are being all 'fluffy' again...", she said. Anakin smiled and hugged her.

"Well, I don't know how to put it then. It's just the way I feel", he said smiling. "I don't want to give up on us, Padmé. I want to fight for us", he said in a more serious tone.

"I'll be honest with you, Anakin. I don't know if I can trust you anymore. I don't want to read your mind every time I want to know if you're telling me the truth", she said. Anakin sighed. "You will have to win my trust again, Ani. That's going to be hard".

"I know. But I'll do whatever it takes for me to win your trust again, Padmé. I promise".

"Don't promise anything, there have been too many broken promises in this relationship already. It'll be enough if you just say that you'll try. That will be our first step to trust each other, alright?". Anakin nodded and rubbed her arms.

"Alright, I'll do my best", he reasured her with a smile. Padmé smiled back. Anakin was leaning to kiss her but she stopped him.

"But at the first mistake...", she warned raising her finger. Anakin nodded.

"Alright", he said in a serious tone. Padmé smiled and kissed him. When they pulled away, she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Why do I have to love you so much...?", she whispered to herself. Anakin acted as if he didn't hear what she said and tightened his arms around her. He decided to play a little with her thoughts.

"Why do you love me so much, Padmé?", he asked smiling. Padmé laughed and kissed the side of his head.

"I don't know, Ani. I ask myself the same question every day", she replied smiling.

"Let's stay at home today, alright? Every time we get out of this house something happens", Anakin said.

"I agree", she added with a smile.

*

A couple of weeks went by, and things were really shaping up. Padmé was starting to recover her trust on Anakin, and he was changing his attitude. He wasn't complaining and regreting marrying Padmé all the time. They were genuinly happy now. They owed that to each other's effort. Obi-Wan dropped for a visit one day.

"Hello, do you know where I can find the senator?", Obi-Wan asked to Sabé.

"I think that they are in the gardens".

"Thank you", Obi-Wan said politely. He headed towards the gardens, already expecting to find them fighting, or maybe mad at each other. You could expect anything with this odd match. But when he got there, he found them very happy and caring for each other. Anakin noticed Kenobi's pressence and smiled.

"Ah, Obi-Wan, pleasure to see you again", he greeted cheerfully. Obi-Wan frowned at the senator's good mood and shook his hand.

"Thank you, my lord", he replied formally.  Padmé found this extremely odd, her master had always been very polite and was known for his good manners, but he was being rude. Her thoughts were interrupted by her master's intense stare. "And how've you been, my young Padawan?"

"Great, master. Couldn't be better", she said looking at Anakin. He smiled at her but looked back to the front after hearing Obi-Wan clearing his throat. "I'm sorry, master".

"My young Padawan, if I came here it wasn't to see you and the senator sharing loving glances and smiles. I need to have a word with you", he said in a hard tone. "And hurry up, I don't have time to wait until you and your precious husband say good bye to each other. I've had more than enough of your unpropper behavior".

"Excuse me, Obi-Wan, but I think that this is no way of addressing to your Padawan, and we are not behaving unpropperly", Anakin said cutting in. Something was wrong with Obi-Wan, he was being very hard on Padmé for some unknown reason.

"I don't mean to be rude with you, senator, but you better stay away from the buissness that me and my Padawan have to discuss, or..."

"Or what?", Padmé interrupted. There was an awkward silence. VERY awkward. Padmé's anger was rising, so was Anakin's concern for her. Obi-Wan wasn't very pleased either. He finally spoke up.

"We better talk, young one. I'll be waiting for you inside the house", the Jedi Master said almost as a warning. He walked away and left Anakin and Padmé alone. When he made sure that Obi-Wan couldn't hear them, Anakin spoke.

"What do you think he wants?", he asked confused. Padmé kept looking at the direction where her master had disappeared and shook her head.

"I don't know, but I'm sure that it isn't good", she said concerned. Anakin sighed and hugged her, trying to comfort her. "I'll tell you tonight", Padmé said before she walked away, following her master's trail.

*

"What is it, master?", Padmé asked in a worn out tone. 

"I came to see if you have made any progress in your anger control", was his response. Padmé was shocked by the tone he used to ask such a personal question. His face was still, free of any emotion. Something was bothering him.

"It's going fine. Each day I make a little progress, and Anakin has been of great help", she answered. Obi-Wan nodded and stood up abrutly.

"I'll cut straight to the point, Padmé: you have to return to Courasant by the end of the week, earlier if possible".

Padmé's world fell from her heart to her shoes. Her dreamed honeymoon had come to an end. It had to, some day. She didn't expect it to be so quickly. Dark feelings rised from her soul, and she threw a cold and hard stare to her master. Obi-Wan noticed this and raised a brow.

"Are you warming up a little, my young Padawan?", he asked challenging her. Padmé smiled sarcastically, realizing that her master's intention was to make her mad.

"Why would you care? Oh, now I get it: they sent you here to test me, right? They wanted someone reliable to tell them about my progress, IF I had made any in the first place...", Padmé said with suspicious look.

"Yes, and no. Yes, because they want to know how are you;and no, because that's not the only reason why I'm here. They really want you back, Padawan. It's very important for your future, and for the whole galaxy's sake", Obi Wan admited. He sat down and waited for her question. Not an answer, but a question, as it was usual on her.

"Why?", Padmé asked with the same suspicious look she had used before.

"The council thinks that if you have overcame your anger, you might be ready for the trials". He used emphasis on the words IF and MIGHT, maybe that way he wouldn't put her hopes too high. Knowing Padmé, she would get too excited ad finally let her feelings betray her. But the exact opposite happened. The expression on her face at ther words 'trials' remained intact. It was as if she didn't care at all.

"I thought that you were going to be a little more excited", Obi Wan said confused. Padmé raised a brow and sighed.

"Well, master: you were wrong". It sounded as if she was mocking him. "I don't know if I am that eager on giving the trials anymore". Obi-Wan stood up in a jump and pointed a finger at her.

"If you are saying that just to stay here with the senator, let me tell you that I'll do whatever it's in my power to stop it!", he shot using a very hard tone.

"Oh, so that's what this is all about? You don't want me to be with my husband anymore, don't you?".

"No, I don't!". Padmé froze at her master's response. Her only reaction was to ask:

"Why?".

"Come on, Padawan. Wake up! This marriage is a joke! This is all fake, it's not true, at all!!", he yelled. Padmé gave him a confused look. "You can't be a wife and a Padawan at the same time. The senator was smart enough to see it on time, so he did everything very carefully".

"What are you talking about?", Padmé asked fearing the worse.

"You are not really married, the ceremony was illegal, it was just an act! Everything he has ever told you is a lie, he is a lie by himself! Don't tell me that you haven't noticed this before?", Obi Wan asked as if the answer were obvious.

"You are the one who's lying... Anakin would never do something like that to me".

"Well, your marriage didn't start so good if I recall... Even in your first hours as a married couple were full of lies. He's hurt you enough, Padmé, just leave him", he suggested. 

Padmé couldn't believe what her master had said. she sat down while she tried to process the information. Her mouth went dry, and she had a hard time trying to breath. There was something across her throat that just wouldn't let the air go inside as it usualy went.

"No...". she choked in her own words and tried to calm down. Obi Wan stood behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. That simple geasture convinced her that Obi Wan's words were truth. "But I can't leave him, we're married..."

"No, my young Padawan. You are not". Padmé felt how her tears wet her hands as they fell freely from her face. "You can leave him and there will be no legal problems. It will be as if nothind had happened...", but he couldn't continue, she interrupted him.

"Nothing happened? Master, I've loved that man in every possible way, I gave myself to him. By or not by the law, we WERE married! I'll never forget this, it's something that will remain with me forever. I can't just act as if nothing..." She trailed off at the word nothing, because it showed her the truth. That truth that was o hard to believe, to accept. She couldn't live by that new reality Obi Wan had planted her.

"We could leave tonight, he would never know", Kenobi suggested. Padmé dismissed the idea shaking her head.

"Of course he would notice, we sleep in the same room...", she spat out bitterly. Oh, how she regreted everything that had ever happened between them. How she regreted that he was the one that comforted her when Shmi died. She hated the fact that his face was the first thing she saw when she woke up every morning, she hated the memories of the intimacy they had shared, and the fact that she had given him so many chances to make up his mistakes. It was all just a waste.

"Alright, we'll leave tonight. But first, there's something I must do".

*

Anakin had a sored cheek. Why? Because Padmé had slapped him before she started packing, while she was packing, and after she packed. To sum up, his face was swallen, red and hot from the pain. Padmé also had insulted him during her time inside the room. Her screams and yells left no room for Anakin to ask for an explanation.

"Good bye, you bastard!", she yelled from the door.

After the slamming of the door, he never heard of her for a long time.

So he just sat there, full of doubts, hurt, afraid, and with a broken heart. Padmé felt exactly the same way. The only difference, is that she knew what Anakin had done.

He didn't.

TBC


	15. Two Months Later

Two months later...

Anakin was very nervous. He was going to Courasant to attend some senate meetings and private lunches with the chancellor. The republic was in real danger, and it was crutial to the galaxy that Anakin went there to come up with solutions for the main problems affecting the people. 

But that wasn't the reason why he was nervous. He was nervous about meeting Padmé again after all the time that had gone by. They haven't talked to each other since she returned to Naboo to get some things she had left over. Well, they never really talked. He just watched her while she looked for her things. He still didn't know what was happening with them, especially with her. ever since Obi Wan had visited to talk to her, she was different. A bad kind of different.

To Anakin, the trip form Naboo to Courasant took an eternity. He was so sad, because he really missed Padmé. He really loved her, and her attitude was hurting him deeply. Millions of 'what-ifs' came to his mind as he headed to Courasant, like:

What if I see her? What if she doesn't want to talk to me? What if she's still mad at me? What if I don't get to see her at all? 

This last what-if made him lower his head. He wanted to see her, even if she didn't talk to him. he missed her so much.

*

"I hope that you find your chambers suitable, Senator Skywalker", the guard said. anakin dropped his bag on the bed and nodded. "Do you need anything else?". Anakin shook his head and sat heavily on the bed. The guard noticed that something happened and grew curious and concerned. "Sir, are you alright?"

"I don't know what alright means anymore", Anakin replied in a worn out voice. The guard stared at him as if he remembered him from somewhere else.

"Say... aren't you the senator that the Jedi Kenobi protected?", he asked. Anakin lifted his head and nodded. The guard shook his head in dispise. "That damn Jedi...".

Anakin lifted his head from his hands and frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the word is that he's secretly involved with the soth".

"You mean the sith", Anakin corrected. Afterwards, he was shocked at this new information. "You mean Kenobi, Obi Wan Kenobi?" The guard nodded and sat down in front of the senator.

"I heard from a guard at the temple that master Kenobi sneakes out every night and returns to the temple at dawn". Anakin sighed in frustration.

"But that doesn't mean anything, he could've gone anywhere. Courasant is a big city...". The guard raised his brows trying to change Anakin's mind.

"Well, maybe, but this guard assured me that Kenobi had changed a lot since he started to sneak out. He has a terrible temper now, and for what I know about him, he's always been very calmed and relaxed".

There was a brief silence, when suddenly, something inside Anakin's mind clicked.

"That's why he was so rude!", he said almost yelling. The guard backed off a little afraid of the senator's reaction and stood up. Anakin smiled and followed the guard. He gave him a tight hug in apreciation for the news he had told him. The guard was very uncomfortable, and Anakin noticed this, so he let him go.

"Uh, I... have to go", he said in a shaky voice. Anakin laughed.

"Don't worry, I'm married", the senator replied placing his hand on the guard's shoulder. The guard smiled in relief and raised his brows.

"Really, to whom?", he asked excited. Anakin smiled and shook his head.

"I think that we've shared enpugh for one first encounter, my friend". The guard blushed very embarrassed. "It's alright, don't worry".

*

Anakin rushed through the halls of the Jedi temple. Each person he passed thought he was crazy, but he didn't care. He just wanted to find Padmé. And there she was. Walking to his direction and with her eyes fixed on the floor. Anakin stopped and leaned against a column, so that if she saw him she wouldn't turn away. Her steps were sounding nearer by every second that went by. Anakin's heart was in his throat, he was so nervous. He looked at both ways of the hall. It was empty. Finally, Padmé passed by the column Anakin was leaning on. He waited until she was a few more steps away.

"Hello, Padmé", he said softly. Padmé stopped walking and raised her head. After a couple of seconds she turned around and faced Anakin.

"What are you doing here?", she asked disgusted. Her tone really hurt Anakin, but he decided to let that go. The main thing in his mind was to talk to her.

"I needed to talk to you. Why did you leave me, Padmé? We are married, you just can't leave me like that with no explanation".

"First of all, we are not married..."

"What?", Anakin interrupted. "What are you talking about? Of course we are married!". Anakin didn't understand a thing Padmé was saying.

"Oh, really? You knew that our marriage would never work because I'm a Padawan learner and you are a senator, so you just made me believe that we were married. You were very smart, I have to give that to you..."

"Padmé, I have no idea of what you're talking about! Did Obi Wan tell you that?", Anakin asked suspicious.

"Leave my master out of this!", she warned.

"Padmé, please, listen to me! You've been brainwashed, Obi Wan lied! We ARE married, I can show you the Naboo records in the computer if you want!", Anakin said desperate.

"Anakin, you are a polititian. You could've easily changed the records in the data base, I'm not stupid", Padmé said upset. Anakin was really disappointed.

"Well, if you think that I would do that, you don't know me at all".

"Maybe you are right, I don't know you. I thought you were different", Padmé said in a much softer tone than the ones she had used before. "I had so many things that I wanted to tell you, to share with you, that would make a big difference in our lives". Anakin freaked out for a minute.

"Padmé, are you... pregnant?", he asked half excited half scared. Padmé frowned.

"No, I'm not pregnant! Even if I were, I wouldn't tell you. After all, you don't want to have children with me, you left that clear the day we talked about it".

Anakin couldn't believe it. He just nodded and walked away, defeated. After a couple of steps, he turned around and faced her.

"If you were pregnant I'd have the right to know. For your information, we are still married. And...", he paused. Padmé raised a brow, expectant. 

"What'?"

"I... I still love you, Padmé. You are my wife, and you'll be forever". There was a deep silence, during the which Padmé lowered her head, not knowing what to say. "And that holyman that married us also married my sister and my cousin, so if we are not married, then they aren't married either". After saying that, he turned around and walked away.

Now Padmé was the confused one. If what Anakin was saying was the truth, that meant that her master had lied to her. But... why? She decided to go and find out by herself who was telling the truth.

*

Padmé entered the Courasant intergalactic record center that very same afternoon. She headed towards the Naboo section and sat down in front of one of the computers, tiped Anakin's name and waited. 

_Name: Skywalker, Anakin_

_Species: Human_

_Gender: Male_

_Age: 24_

_Occupation: Member of the galactic senate._

_Status: Married_

Padmé was, to say the least, shocked. She was about to faint when an old lady tapped her shoulder.

"Are you alright, miss?", the old lady asked concerned. It took Padmé a couple of seconds to proces the information before she answered.

"Yes, yes... I have to go", she replied standing up and leaving the building.

*

Padmé headed towards the senatorial building to find Anakin. She wanted to find him first and talk. She had a lot to things to say to him. well, more like a lot of things to appologize for.

How she had missed him. Every day she remembered her days in Naboo with it's ups and downs. But no matter if there were bad things, she missed Anakin anyway. After all, he was her husband, by the law or not by the law. He never stopped being hers. 

Padmé longed to be held in his arms once again. Maybe that was what she missed the most of her time with Anakin. The feeling of his heartbeat against her ear always made her feel safe, even though she was the one supposed to protect him.

But what if he didn't want to take her back? After all, she HAD been pretty rude with him earlier. But he also wanted to make things better between them, otherwise he wouldn't've gone to the temple that afternoon.

The door to his chambers was at sight. Each step Padmé took seemed so heavy and slow. The sound of her feet against the floor echoed in her ears and stayed in her mind tormenting her. This was by far the hardest thing she had ever done. Going to her husband and appologize for misjudging him. finally, she reached the door. There were a couple of armed guards outside, and when they saw Padmé, they stood in front of the door.

"The access to this chambers is denied, miss", one of the guards said in a deep voice. Padmé opened her cloak and showed the guards her Jedi robes. The guards looked at each other for a couple of seconds until one of them motioned with his head for her to go inside.

"Thank you", Padmé said softly.

"You are welcome, miss", the other guard answered. Padmé smiled when she realized that the had called her 'miss'. She diled the code that the building manager had given her earlier and entered Anakin's chambers.

Anakin was standing in front of the window, watching the Courasant traffic. Most likely, he was remembering his days in Naboo, thinking that there were no traffic jams like the ones there were in Courasant. Padmé hanged her cloak on the hanger next to the door and fixed her robes. 

"Hi", Padmé greeted so that he knew that she was there with him. Anakin turned around and opened his eyes widely. They stared at each other for a while until Anakin took a deep breath, trying to stay calmed.

"Hi", he answered more nervous than confused. "What, uh... what are you doing here? I thought that you didn't want to see me again". Anakin couldn't believe that he had just said that. Padmé lowered her head and nodded.

"I know, I was wrong". Anakin raised his head in a split second.

"What?", he asked in disbelief.

"I'm sorry, I judged you without listening to you before. I shouldn't have done that, Ani. Could you please forgive me?", Padmé said almost pleading. 

To her plead followed a deep silence, broken by Anakin's smile. Padmé smiled back. There was nothing left to be said. They just rushed to each other and wrapped in a fierce embrace.

*

"I missed you", Padmé said tightening her arm around Anakin. Anakin kissed her temple and smiled.

"I missed you too. I was so misserable during this couple of months", Anakin said almost complaining. Padmé smiled and softly punched his chest.

"I had forgotten how you are always complaining about everything", she said laughing. Anakin laughed too and brought her even closer to him. His expression torn serious.

"Padmé..."

"Yes, Ani?", she asked cuddling against him.

"I think we should talk about Obi Wan and how he lied to us". Padmé sighed heavily and stared at the ceiling. "Why do you think he did it? He's never been like that, at least not that I remember...".

"Yes, I know what you mean".

"We haven't done anything to him", Anakin added confused. Padmé leaned on her elbow so that she could make eye contact with her husband.

"Ani, how do you think that my master's reputation will be if his own Padawan got married? My actions don't make him look as a very good Jedi. Everyone must be disappointed at him, because they've always got great expectations on my training. They all counted on Obi Wan's good guidance, because I'm the 'chosen one' and all...", Padmé explained.

"I think you're right, but was that enough reason to split us up? I thought Jedi couldn't be proud, in a bad way".

"Well, everyone falls in a determined time in their lives. Look at me, I'm a Padawan and I'm married. I also have this thing with my temper that I can't control, and I'm still a Jedi. Maybe my master couldn't control himself either".

"I don't know... I think that there's more into it than we think. I heard that Obi Wan was involved with the sith". Anakin expected Padmé to freak out or at least some surprise from her, but she just looked down.

"I know, I heard that rumor too. The council is following each of his footsteps to see what he's up to. He has no permission to leave the temple until new order".

Anakin was really shocked. He would've never expected master Kenobi to be like that, so mean and owner of such dark feelings. He started to remember all the important encounters he had had with Obi Wan, from the battle of Naboo until that day he came to his house and almost took Padmé away from his side forever.

Then, he started to remember all the new things he had experienced with Padmé. Their marriage, there new found friendship, their muttual support and respect, their disagreements. Suddenly, something came to his mind.

"Padmé, about something I asked you today..."

"What?"

"Are you pregnant?", he asked a little afraid of her answer. Not because he didn't want any children, but because he didn't know how his reaction would be if he was to become a father.

Padmé smiled against his chest and shook her head. "No, I'm not pregnant". She raised her head to look at him. "Why? Would you freak out if I told you I was preganant?", she asked, a little smile played on her lips. 

"Um... no, not at all", Anakin answered a little nervous. Padmé laughed on his face, not caring if he would feel offended. "Hey, I mean it!"

"Right...", she added resting her head on his chest once again. "You would totally freak out, knowing your special personality..."

"What do you mean by 'special personality', Padmé?", Anakin asked offended.

"Oh, you know... you are always worried about something, always omplaining for little things, always aware of every little detail... but don't worry, I like that in you", she assured him.

"Oh, I think I feel better now...", he said sarcastically. Padmé started to laugh at his childish attitude and he soon joined her contagious giggles, adding his own laughter. When they stopped, they remained serious.

"Will you talk to Obi Wan?", Anakin asked. Padmé sighed and shook her head.

"I don't know... I think that I'll better wait a while before doing anything to confront him", she said in a hopeless tone. Anakin nodded and kissed her temple.

"I agree". They stayed in silence for what seemed eternity. 

They were both enjoying each other's company, both secretly wondering how much it was going to last. They had waited too long to be like this again, and they were intrigued by the fact that their life together had such an uncertain future. How many obstacles would they have to go through together until they would finally reach happyness? This was just the beggining.

"Padmé..."

"Yes, Ani?"

"Can you stay over for tonight?", he pleaded in a soft childish tone. Padmé sighed heavily and held Anakin even closer.

"I don't think so, Anakin. The council has been keeping an eye on me too. They haven't talked to me since I came back, not even to ask me about our marriage, and I don't think that they'll like it if I spend the night out of the temple".

"Why? What could happen that hasn't happened already?", Anakin asked waving his hands, bringing atention to their situation. Padmé smiled mischievously and kissed Anakin deeply. She pulled away and noticed that Anakin was almost breathless. She smiled to herself and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"You are so funny, Anakin..."

"Why? Because I want to spent the night with my wife?", he asked amused. Padmé laughed and kissed his cheek.

"No, because you act so childish when things don't go your way", she corrected. Anakin hugged her tightly and rolled her over so that he was on top of her.

"I know you want to stay...", he said while he kissed her neck. Padmé wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled.

"I do, but I can't...". she grabbed Anakin's face and kissed him. Then she broke the kiss and pushed Anakin a side. "Now get off", she said in what sounded a bossy tone. Anakin smiled and rolled to the other side of the bed against his own will. He watched Padmé as she got dressed and sighed.

"Will you come tomorrow?", he asked. Padmé finished wrapping her cloak around her and sat next to Anakin.

"I'll try, but I can't promise you anything. I might have my trials next week, so I must train", she explained.

"Your trials? Why didn't you tell me?", Anakin asked excited. Padmé smiled and kissed his forehead.

"We didn't have time to talk". Anakin smiled at her and hugged her. After a while, they kissed and Padmé left.

Once outside the senatorial building, Padmé was getting in her speeder when a hand grabbed her arm. She turned around and for her surprise, she saw supreme Chancellor Palpatine.

"Chancellor, I'm surprised to see you", she said a little nervous.

"Oh, I'm sorry if I scared you". Padmé shook her head and smiled.

"No, not at all. Tell me, how may I help you?", she asked. Palpatine released her arm and brought his hands to his back.

"I want to talk to you".


	16. The Awful Truth

In Palpatine's office.

"I asume that you've heard about Master Kenobi's latest... actions", the supreme chancellor began. Padmé sat uncomfortably in fornt of him.

"Yes, I've heard those RUMORS", she spat out.

"Rumors?", a voice that came from behind her asked. Padmé slowly turned around, not wanting to see the owner of that familiar voice. But there he was: Obi Wan Kenobi, wearing dark robes. "Are you surprised to see me, Padawan?", he asked with an evil grin.

"Master?", Padmé questioned disbelieving the situation. Obi Wan shook his head.

"I stopped being your master when you betrayed me, Padmé", Obi Wan spat out bitterly. "Now, I've discovered that my abilities can do more than just train spoiled love-sick girls". Padmé was very hurt. Was this what her master... Obi Wan thougth about her? He was like a father or older brother to her. Sure, they had had their share of differences in the past, but there was a line between disagreements and... turning to the dark side.

"Master, why are you doing this? And why is the chancellor involved?", she asked turning to the politician sitting in front of her. Now she had another reason to hate politicians...

"The...'chancellor' here, was the one that opened my eyes and showed me the truth. He showed me that I could acomplish my goals and that I could earn respect after the shame you put me through", he explained. Padmé blinked a couple of times while she tried to process the information.

//I should've listened to Ani and stay with him tonight...//, she regreted.

"But master, what shame? The council hasn't talk to me yet about my marriage, it's as if they newer knew about it in the first place", Padmé said, looking for an explanation to Obi Wan's behavior. She was even more confused when she saw the two men inside the office laughing.

"Oh, my dear Padmé... The council never knew about your marriage. I made that up. And also, according to your conclutions, I also made up that thing about your marriage being invalid", Obi Wan said still smiling. Padmé was having a hard time deciding wether to cry or to yell at him. She went with both.

"You almost destroyed my marriage!", Padmé cried out.

"And I was these close", Obi Wan said putting his index finger above his thumb. Padmé's breathing increased, and Palpatine smiled pleased.

"Why?", she asked.

"To bring you to the dark side, of course. You should join us, Padmé. Great potential, you have", Palpatine said. Padmé looked at him again, this time throwing flames at the politician. She genuinly dispised the man.

"What have you done to Obi Wan? He was a great Jedi Knight"

"Please, Padmé. Don't take my side now... you should've done that long ago", Obi Wan broke in.

"But I always took your side, master", she argued confused.

"Oh, come on. You always argued back, like the way you are now. You aways tried to make me aware of your superiority. You loved to make me look as the next best thing, as your replacement, while I was the master and you the Padawan". He paused and looked at her. For a moment, his look seemed to soften. "I really cared about you, Padmé..."

"But you don't anymore!", Palpatine interrupted, standing up and walking towards them, just to stop in between the master and Padawan. "Remember what I've taught you, Obi Wan: Sith, along with Jedi, don't have emotions".

Padmé noticed Obi Wan's weakness: emotions. Who would've thought it? The one thing that could save the most uptight Jedi from following the dark side were emotions. Padmé's mind started to race thinking of a plan. While Palpatine lectured Obi Wan about the dark side, Padmé thought of a plan to keep him away from there. Suddenly, she got it.

She stood up and both men's heads turned to look at her. Padmé wiped the tears away and took a deep breath, ready to make her move.

"What would've Qui Gonn thought of this, Obi Wan?", she asked looking at him straight into the eye. For a minute, Obi Wan froze. He had no answer to that question, or most likely he didn't want to answer it.

Palpatine noticed that he was losing his control over Kenobi, but he was sure that it would pass by. He turned to Obi Wan and smiled.

"Kenobi, don't listen to this girl. She's a fool, she doesn't know what she's taling about. Now concentrate in me and your training. We've come a long way, let's not throw it away for some girl, alright?", he said still smiling.

But Obi Wan kept looking at Padmé, peircing her brown eyes with his icy gray-blue ones. His jaw started to shake, and he felt how his knees got weaker. Padmé realised that her plan was working.

"Think of Qui Gonn, master, think of what he...", she wasn't able to continue. She felt a dark force embrace her and throw her against the wall. It was Palpatine, who had his hand raised in Padmé's direction.

"You will learn to keep your nose out of my business, girl!!", he yelled. He raised his other hand and began to throw light bolts at her. 

"Don't touch her!!"

Palpatine stopped throwing light bolts at Padmé and turned around to see Anakin standing in the doorway of his office. The chancellor raised a brow, amused by the situation.

"Why, isn't this romantic? The brave and head-strong senator Skywalker comes to rescue his lover...", Palpatine said sarcastically.

"She's my wife!", Anakin corrected angrily.

"Well, not for long, because when I finish with this little whore she will be dead and in the most painful way!", Palpatine shot back yelling. That was it for Anakin. He rushed towards the chancellor to push him, but he was no match for the Sith lord. With just a wave of his hand he threw Anakin aside, next to Obi Wan.

It was when he got up that Anakin realised that Kenobi was there too. He grabbed him by his robes and shook him, but he was still in some kind of trance, looking at Padmé. At seeing that Obi Wan was harmless, Palpatine turned to his torture towards Padmé. Just watching her shake and squirm made Anakin go crazy. He tried to move, but there was an invisible wall between himself and Palpatine.

Once again, he turned to Obi Wan and decided that it was time to use drastic measures. He clenched his hand in a fist and hit Obi Wan's face so hard he fell to the floor. Automatically he brought his hand to his jaw and held it carefully while he tried to realise what had happened. He saw a hand before him, and when he looked up he saw senator Skywalker trying to help him up.

Obi Wan hesitated before finally taking his hand and pulling himself up. He was going to say something when he caught Palpatine torturing Padmé. His first reflect was to brake the invisible dark wall with the light side of the force, and he succeeded. You could tell that Palpatine had been caught by surprise only by taking a look at his face as Obi Wan slashed him with his lightsaber.

While Obi Wan took care of Palpatine, Anakin rushed towards Padmé and pressed his finger against her neck. She still had a pulse. Anakin thanked all the gods he could think of and carried her in his arms. When he turned around, he saw Obi Wan in front of him, bearly standing upon his feet.

"It's alright, Obi Wan. You saved her", Anakin said smiling kindly. "Thank you, I'll owe you this one forever". Obi Wan walked towards him and cupped Padmé's face in his hands.

"And once again, you saved me, Padawan", he said smiling. He touched her forehead and checked her pulse. "She's going to be alright, senator". Anakin gave him a look. "I meant Anakin", he said smiling widely.

*

Padmé woke up with a terrible headache. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the light, and when they did, she saw that her room was full of people. Obi Wan, Mace Windu, Sabé, a couple of her Padawan friends and even Yoda was there. She tried to sit up, but she felt a sharp pain in her back. A nurse rushed to her bedside and placed another pillow on the back of Padmé's head.

"Thank you", she said. Sabé sat on the seat next to her bed and grabbed her hand.

"Oh, I'm so glad that you are alright. I was worried sick about you!", she said smiling. Padmé laughed softly and shook her head.

"Oh, Sabé, you are so dramatic...", Padmé added shaking her head.

"Speaking of dramatic...", a familiar voice said. Padmé shot her head back to the door and she saw Anakin walking in with a giant bouquet of white tulips (A/N: I know that there're probably no tulips in SW, but I love them!) and wearing a radiant smile on his face.

Padmé smiled at him and recieved the flowers with one hand while with the other she embraced her husband. Suddenly she remembered that the council never knew about their secret marriage. Yoda smiled knowingly.

"Read your thoughts, I still can, young one. Worry, you should not. Explained everything to us, the senator has. And I must say, congratulations!", Yoda said cheerfully. Padmé laughed nervously and squeezed Anakin's hand. He smiled at her and kissed her forehead.

"Thank you, Master Yoda...", she said awkwardly. Was she thanking the great Jedi Master Yoda for congratulationg her for her marriage to a senator? This seemed unreal. Obi Wan stepped to the front and entwined his fingers in front of him.

"You were very brave, Padmé. Thanks to you, I'm back in the right path. I'd never be able to thank you enough for what you did". Padmé smiled and shook her head.

"You already have, master. Thank YOU". Everyone in the room was about to let out some 'awwwwwws' and Padmé noticed. "Erm... I would like to speak with Anakin alone... please", she asked awkwardly. They all left the room saying their goodbyes. Sabé poked her head into the room and winked at Anakin.

"Go, boss", she said merrily. Padmé laughed while Anakin closed the the door to get some privacy. Then he shut the curtains and turned back to Padmé. He sat on the edge of her bed and cupped the side of her face. Anakin stared at her for a while and sighed. Padmé could read in his eyes that he was still concerned.

"I was afraid I might've been too late", he whispered. Padmé grabbed the hand Anakin had pressed against her cheek and squeezed it softly.

"But you weren't late. You came just in time, so don't get all dramatic with me, alright?", she said trying to lighten the mood. Anakin smiled and shook his head. That was so like her... "What were you doing there, anyways?", she asked curious.

"I needed to see Palpatine at once for some new vote the senate had to make, about a new army for the republic", he explained, but paused when he saw he frowning.

"A new army? I thought that there was an army already, and a brand new one". Anakin nodded.

"Yes, but apparently, that wasn't enough for him. Now I understand his thirst for war... That damn-old-two-face liar was a Sith", he spat out bitterly. Padmé place her hand on his knee.

"Ani, calm down", she pressed, but Anakin was far from calming down.

"Don't ask me to do that, after what he called you..."

"Ani, I don't care what names he called me, he's dead now. Let's forget the past and talk about the future, shall we?", she said eager to change the subject. Anakin sighed and layed next to her, covering her with his arm while with his other hand he played with her fingers. He loved to do that... Her fingers were so slim and delicate, not to mention the softness of her skin.

"Master Yoda was really happy with our marriage, but he wasn't crazy about Obi Wan's actions...", he said in a sad tone. Padmé grew concerned for her master and mentor.

"Will they do something about it?", she asked. Anakin nodded.

"The title of Jedi Knight will be taken from him until new order. They want to make sure that he is fully recovered", Anakin explained. Padmé raised her brows.

"I think that's fair...". There was a silence, interrupted by Anakin's sigh.

"Well, enough about Kenobi: let's talk about us", he said smiling. Padmé smiled back at him and cuddled to his side.

"Tell me all about 'us', Ani", she said closing her eyes.

"The Jedi agreed to let you live with me outside the temple. Well, that's only if you want to, of course..."

"What do you mean 'if I want to'? Of course I want to live outside the temple! It would be too awkward to be the only married Padawan there. Not even the Knights and council members are married. I don't think it would be fair...", she finished. Anakin smiled and kissed her forehead.

"Whatever you want, honey"

"Don't call me honey, you know I hate those pet names...", she complained.

"They are not pet names, they are ways of reffering to you in a much sweeter way...", Anakin argued.

"I don't like to be called like food", Padmé shot back with a smile.

"And I don't like to be called girly names. You know, 'Ani' isn't very virile...". Padmé smiled and kissed the tip of Anakin's nose.

"There I cannot help you, Ani. I'll always call you Ani, wether you like it or not... Besides, it's shorter and less rough than Anakin". Anakin looked at her and raised a brow.

"And I'm not rough?", he asked offended. Padmé laughed.

"I hate to brake it to you, Ani, but you are as rough as one of those tulips you brought me", she paused when she felt Anakin stiffened, clearly offended, "but it's alright. I rather have a sweet husband than this tough insensitive guy. I love you the way you are", she said with a reassuring smile. Anakin sighed and kissed her.

"I love you too, hon... Padmé". Padmé softly punched him on the arm and laughed. "That one was close"

"A little too close, in fact..."

THE NEXT POST WILL BE THE LAST CHAPTER, SO YOU BETTER REVIEW THE BEEGEEZUZ (however you spell it)  OUT OF ME!!!!!!!


	17. The End Of The Beginning

One moth later, almost everything was back to normal. Padmé had already given her trials, and passed. She was a Jedi, unlike her former master, Obi Wan Kenobi. The title of Jedi Knight was removed from him until new order. He was in a special training to re-bond with the Force. He was doing fine, until he made a drastic decision.

"I'm going in a journey by my own, I need to figure things out and I can't do it here. There are too many memories, and all I need now is to forget and move on, and I can't do it in Courasant". This was the explanation Obi Wan gave the council. They understood and let him go, knowing that it was for the best.

Padmé's anger problem was almost gone. She rarely lose her temper, and when she did, she would find peace again through the Force or through her husband. Yoda was being very understanding with Padmé and helped her to control herself and her other self, the dark one. It was hard, they all had to admit that, but it was worth the effort. Now Padmé was genuinely happy, and you could tell just by looking at her.

She and Anakin were living in an apartment between the senate and the temple, so that they could be close to their 'jobs'. It was wonderful to live together and not having to be hiding from everyone. When the press heard about the marriage, it was a big scandal, and it took them a couple of months to adjust. Some senators even mentioned that Anakin should be fired because of the example he was puting to the people. How could the republic trust the senate if one of it's members hid his marriage to a Jedi? 

But now it was known all over that they were married, so it wasn't a secret anymore, was it? The decision of fireing Anakin was dismissed when more problems came. After all, he was a good senator and they needed as much help as possible.

Now that Palpatine was out of the picture, the republic was trying to decide if they kept the army or not. The separatists' pressence was still beating, and they had no intention of leaving. Now the senate had to find a solution to this problem. 

There were many suggestions, like the election of a new supreme chancellor. They voted and Bail Organa was elected by more than half of the senate. Anakin Skywalker was very happy with the results of the elections. After all, he was the one that suggested Organa's name for new supreme chancellor. The new elections meant that there was a lot of job ahead the road yet, and this also meant less family life to the members of the senate.

That included Skywalker. He wasn't able to make it home every night because he had to stay at the senate to discuss new topics that were very important to the survival of the republic. Anakin didn't get to see a lot of Padmé for months, and this affected their relationship.

Padmé had many new missions as a knight. The order was at a lack of Jedi, and they had to make the most of the knights they had available. The only one that was really affected by this, was Padmé. After all, she was the only married Jedi in the entire history of the order. There were rumors that maybe the code would bend some of it's rules to beneffit the Jedi, but no one cleared those rumors.

*

It was going to be Anakin and Padmé aniversary the following weekend, and they hadn't communicate with each other yet. Padmé was away in a mission in the Hoth system and Anakin was way too busy in Courasant attending some political affairs. 

They didn't talk much, but when they did, all they could do was argue. And for the most stupid and meaningless things you could think. Neither of them wanted to admit that they missed each other, maybe because it hurt them too much. It was much easier to fight than to suffer. But they were already suffering, and a big deal.

"I can't go, I'm still asigned to this mission", Padmé said. Her blue holograffic image was fading and coming back every now and then. The reception wasn't so good, and this was getting to Anakin's nerves.

"Well, I can't leave Courasant either, you know that I'm needed here", Anakin shot back. There was an awkward silence that lasted for minutes. They didn't seem to find anything to talk about besides duties and their marriage. 

"So...", Padmé broke in. Anakin sighed.

"So...", he echoed. Another awkward silence. "Um, how've you been?", he asked trying to cut the tenssion.

"Good, good. You?", Padmé asked trying to smile. Anakin sighed again and smiled back.

"Ok, I guess. I'm just really tired", he said rubbing his eyes.

"Yeah, me too. This mission is taking too long for my taste. We've been here for a month and everything's the same. I'll ask master Yoda if I can go back for our aniversary, but I can's promise you anything", Padmé said a little sad. Anakin rolled his eyes. "Look, Anakin, I'm trying my best here to be with you for our aniversary, alright? Give me some credit, would you?", she asked in a tired tone.

"Yes, you are right. I'm sorry".

"It's alright". And yet, another awkward silence. "Look, I've got to go. Bye", she said dryly. Anakin waved his hand and tried to smile.

"Bye". And they cut off the communications. Anakin noticed that she didn't say 'I love you' before cutting off. Then he realised that neither had he. What was happening to them? First, they were all over the other and now they couldn't even say 'I love you' through a message. The relationship was deteriorating, and it was begining to show.

*

"I'm coming, I'm coming!", Anakin yelled while he walked to open the door. He looked at his watch and realised that it was 3:45 am. "Who could it be at this time?", he asked in a tired tone. He opened the door. That was the last person he was expecting to see.

"Master Yoda?", he asked in disbelief. "Um... please, come in", he said inmidiately. The old Jedi walked inside while Anakin closed the door behind him. They walked further into the aparment and sat down in the living room.

"Forgive me for coming at this time, you must, but an urgent message, I have", Yoda said trying to hide back a smile. Anakin knew that this was about Padmé. "Right, you are, senator. A message from your wife, I have".

"Please, do go on", Anakin said trying to rush things up a little bit. Yoda smiled at his umpatience and decided to end his torture.

"A package, she has sent you. In a couple of minutes, it should arrive. Something that would make you smile, she said it was".

Anakin had never been so confused in his entire life. Something that would make him smile? What could it possibly be? There were many things that could make him smile, among those things, Padmé. Well, not that she was a thing, but...

"Well, where is this package?", Anakin asked eagerly. Yoda chuckled and shook his head.

"Just like Padmé, you are. Unpatience and stubborness, you share". Anakin smiled and realised he was being a little childish. "Sabé will bring the package. Though take some time, she may. Quite late, it is".

"Yes indeed", Anakin pointed stretching his legs. "Thank you master Yoda. It was very nice from you to come and tell me this yourself".

After Yoda left, Anakin couldn't help to look at his watch every five seconds. His... patience? was rewarded when Sabé brought the mysterious package to him. He thanked her and asked her to leave the package on the table while he put on his robe in the bedroom. When he heard the door closing, he came out.

The box was medium sized and quite light weigthed. Anakin shook it next to his ear but he couldn't tell what was inside it. He carefully opened it and found a little envelope inside. Now he was really confused. Why put an envelope in such a big box and why did master Yoda came to tell him that he was going to recieve a package?

Anakin slowly openen the envelope, watching not to tear appart the note inside and pulled a piece of paper. He unfolded it and in Padmé's handwriting was written:

'Look behind you'.

Anakin stood up in a jump and turned around. Padmé was standing there, with a big smile on her face.

"Happy aniversary", she said handing him a present. Anakin was having a hard time deciding wether he should throw himself at her or recieve the present. He went with the second one and took the little bow from Padmé's hand. He opened it and found a beautiful dried flower, sandwiched between two little squared glasses.

"It's a flower from the little island accross your house in Naboo. You gave it to me the second time we went there and I kept it", Padmé explained when she saw Anakin's surprised and confused expression. He just smiled at Padmé.

"Wait here", he said while he walked inside the bedroom. He came back, also with a little box in his hands. He gave it to Padmé and she stared at it curiously. "Open it", he said, eager easily heard in his voice.

Padmé opened it and found inside a simple but beautiful silver wedding ring.

"I was going to give it to you when we got married, but I forgot...", he said smiling and slightly blushing. Padmé smiled.

"How could you forget?", she asked amused.

"I promise that I picked it up from my bedroom and brought it with me to the garden, where the holyman awaited for us. Then you walked in and I just... forgot!", he explained. "Here, let me help you", he said taking the ring in his hands and sliding it in Padmé's finger. "I'm so glad it fits...", he said smiling. Padmé looked at the ring and then at her husband.

"Thank you, Ani. It's beautiful", she said. Anakin nodded and kept smiling. They just stared at each other for a couple of minutes. "Well, I've been in here for an eternity and you haven't kissed me yet", Padmé pointed. Anakin laughed and snaked his arms around her waist, lifting her to his level and kissed her, as he hadn't done it for months. Padmé kissed him back and hung her arms on his neck, releasing all the love and passion she held towards the man she had love since age 9.

Now they knew why they were drifting appart: distance. Pretty obvious, right? It took them some time to realise it by themselves, but they finally figured it out. As I said earlier in the story, ignorance is disturbing. But now, there was nothing that they needed to know or that they didn't already. They just... didn't care.

To be continued in OUR PATH THROUGH LIFE

A/N: Hey, people. I didn't want this story to go forever as my other story "Danger with Parenthood" *cough* check it in my bio *cough*, so I decided to continue it. I know that you might be a little disappointed because Padmé isn't pregnant, but ¡¡C'mon, she's not a bunny!! Let her enjoy her husband and her Jedi life for a while!

The first chapters of the sequel are already written, so they will be posted pretty soon. 

See you until then and thanks for all the MAGNIFICENT reviews, I really appreciate them and you for taking the time of writing them and reading the story!! Well, enough of this boring stuff. You know what to do... 

PRESS THE WONDERFUL BLUE BOTTON BELOW THIS LINES AND REVIEW!


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